Berwick Rangers and Tweedmouth Rangers gear up for their last games of 2023 and hope for a win

The Wee Gers had been due to host Caledonian Braves but a frozen pitch at Shielfield Park saw the game being postponed.

The club’s next game is at Cumbernauld Colts on Saturday. Cumbernauld are third in the Lowland League on 36 points, having played a game more than Berwick, who are 15th and have 17 points after 17 games.

In a busy month, Berwick host Edinburgh University on December 16, travel to Bo’ness United on December 23 before playing Gala Fairydean Rovers on Boxing Day.

Gala Fairydean Rovers then make the trip to Shielfield Park for the Wee Gers’ last match of the year on December 30.

Cumbernauld Colts and Berwick played out a goalless draw in the third match of the season, while Berwick beat Edinburgh University 3-1 in August before beating them 4-1 in the second round of the South Challenge Cup.

The wheels have come off slightly at Berwick after their defeat to Brora Rangers in the Scottish Cup, which lead to the club issuing a statement about its finances – several players have left and manager Stuart Malcolm left to take up a post with Arbroath. Berwick Rangers have not won in the league since, the draws with Tranent Juniors and Linlithgow Rose the only matches when they have collected any points.

New manager Thomas Scobbie is strengthening his squad and several players have signed new deals. He started his reign with a cup win and the draw against Tranent Juniors and will be hoping the Wee Gers’ form picks up over the busy festive period.

Tweedmouth Rangers trained indoors at Berwick Sports and Leisure Centre on Saturday instead of playing Armadale Thistle. The club’s last league game was the 2-0 defeat to Edinburgh South on November 11.

They were beaten 3-0 by Heriot Watt University in the first round of the King Cup on November 25. The game saw Joe Hamill make his debut for Tweedmouth and he formed a strong defensive partnership with Rhys Dixon, Craig Heath and Evan Smith, especially in the second half as Tweedmouth settled into the game.

The hosts are a league above Tweedmouth in the East of Scotland League and scored through a penalty after nine minutes, grabbing their second after 27 minutes.

Tweedmouth had chances to pull a goal back and the hosts’ last goal, as the game drew to a close, made the scoreline an unfair reflection of the match.

Keeper Aaron Jones, who is on loan from Dalkeith for the remainder of the year, also had his first start for the club, conceding the penalty before going on to make a couple of good saves.

They are away at Stirling University on Saturday before hosting Dalkeith Thistle on Sunday, December 17. A trip to Coldstream on December 30 brings their 2023 games to an end. Bottom of the table with only one win in 11, they will be hoping to get more points on the board before the new year.