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Berwick Rangers	2 - 5	Newcastle United
Half time:	2 - 2
Score Sheet:
Duthie (32) Wood (40)		LuaLua (26) LuaLua (37) McMenamin (50) Offiong (64) Dimas (75)
	Teams
William McCullough David Murie Grant McNichol Innes Ritchie Alan Neil Gordon Forrest Mark Bradley Mark Anthony Gary Wood Paul Ronald Mark Duthie		Steve Harper Andy Griffin Olivier Bernard Steve Caldwell Gary Caldwell Jamie McClen Diego Gavilan Stuart Green Colin McMenamin Lomana LuaLua  Mark Boyd
Substitutes:
Gary O'Connor for McCullough (56) John Whelan for Anthony (68) Paul Patterson for Bradley (83)		Richard Offiong for LuaLua (46)  David Beharall for S.Caldwell (46)  Pedro Dimas for McClen (46) Ryan McGuffie for Griffin (58) Jon Brain for Harper (75)  Coppinger for McMenamin (75)
Subs not used:
Dale Gray Darren Moonie Craig Findlay Paul Lindsay		David Cowan
Bookings:
n/a		n/a
Referee: Tom Brown: Didn't look like the same geezer who had a hit with Funkin' for Jamaica many years ago, but in this town, who knows?
Attendance: Looked to be around 1,000 - comparatively disappointing after last year's figure of over twice that number.

26 mins Bernard made headway down the left and swung over a slightly speculative cross. The Berwick 'keeper initially seemed to think the ball was dropping towards his far post, but misjudged the flight, allowing LuaLua to steer the ball into the empty net with a first time volleyed effort from 10 yards.1-0 

32 mins Berwick hit back after Forrest advanced towards the United area from a central midfield position and laid a perfectly-weighted ball to the onrushing Duthie. He confidently knocked home the equaliser despite the rather fey attempt Gavilan made to block his run on goal. 1-1

37 mins A free kick level with the edge of the box on the right touchline was pinged over by Gavilan, and LuaLua again was on hand, this time converting with a header as Gary Caldwell stood behind him waiting to do likewise. 2-1

40 mins Again the home side hit back, with a soft goal that was bundled past Harper from close range. Bradley evaded Bernard on the Berwick right with neat skill and sent over a low centre beyond the far post for Duthie to pull it back. Wood then followed the ball in and made sure from close range. 2-2 

Half time: Berwick Rangers 2 Newcastle Reserves 2

50 mins A slightly unfortunate goal from Berwick's point of view, after Offiong outwitted two defenders to make a shooting chance, only for McCullough in the home goal to block his effort. However, the ball ran straight to the lurking McMenamin, who had the simplest of finishes to walk the ball into the next from less than six yards. 3-2

64 mins Goal of the night, and again the quality of Offiong shone through. Mark Boyd picked up the ball on the edge of the centre circle in the Berwick half, and laid it to Offiong, who without ceremony slotted it past a static goalkeeper from 25 yards out.  4-2

75 mins Gavilan turned provided for the second time, with a near replica of the second Newcastle goal. Again on the right, his cross found an unmarked Dimas just by the penalty spot, and he was able to steer his header into the corner of the goal and beyond the keeper, and wrap up a repeat scoreline of the game almost a year ago on this ground. 5-2

Full time: Berwick Rangers 2 Newcastle Reserves 5

A cheery Tommy Craig spoke to the press:

"It was our second win and I was pleased at how strongly we finished the game.

"Berwick Rangers did quite well, as you would expect from them, but our class and fitness told our in the end.

"I thought Richard Offiong's goal was spectacular. He's done well in the two games and Olivier Bernard did well again.

"Bobby Robson was watching for the second time and he will be pleased.  Alan Irvine and Kenny Wharton are doing a good job in the academy and a lot of good players are being produced."

The positive pattern of play that the reserves exhibited at Ashington 48 hours previously was in evidence again at another regular pre-season haunt, Berwick.

Over the years we've journeyed to Shielfield Park frequently, and although recent encounters have only seen our reserve team doing battle on the Northern edge of England, the quality of the matches produced remains at a consistent level.

Far from this being a walkover for the Premiership side, the scores were level at half time, a reflection on the ability of Rangers to pack their defence and make the most of the limited chances that came their way.

Inevitably Newcastle pulled away after the break, as superior technique and fitness became more apparent, but those Berwick fans on hand will have gone away heartened that the current crop of players in the black and gold may just succeed in gaining the promotion that was almost theirs last season..

However, whether any but the profoundly hard of hearing will be venturing back after the unveiling of Berwick's "cuddly" new mascot Bradley Bear is open to question. Whilst a man in a large brown bear costume signing autographs is vaguely odd but tolerable, the dreadful theme song specially minted for our furry friend was anything but...

To be fair to the PA man / stand up comedian who had to play the damn thing twice before the game had even kicked off, he did try and balance proceedings out with a fine selection of early-period REM at half time. However, even the tuneful bleatings of Michael Stipe and co. in the days when they could still bang out tunes with proper titles couldn't mask the utter awfulness of Bradley the bloody bear's dirge. Think Bob the Builder, but without the witty lyrics or catchy tune.....

In keeping with previous trips to the borders, one seems to enter a slightly altered reality once north of Alnwick, and what would seem strange and bizarre elsewhere didn't cause more than passing comment on the banks of the Tweed.

This year we were privileged onlookers as a homing pigeon walked into the pub, then perched itself on the top of the bar, requiring the landlord's skilled intervention to coax and then remove said bird. Whether it was one of Duncan Ferguson's was unclear, but it did sit on the top shelf, next to the single malts... 

As if that wasn't enough excitement, as the evening's live entertainment unloaded enough PA gear to power a large-scale festival (despite playing in a cellar bar the size of a bus stop) then the pipe band appeared.

Not for them a meaningless wander round the streets, and a few stray verses of "A Scottish Soldier" though; they were parading in their official duty as escort to the 2001 Berwick Salmon Queen, who turned out to be a bemused looking lassie sitting in the back of a fishing boat that was being towed through the streets. With what looked like a pair of bridesmaids sitting in with her. Later perusal of the local paper confirmed that a rival event in nearby Eyemouth saw the coronation of a herring queen. Unfortunately we were unable to witness that one. Maybe next year....

Anyway, back over the river and to the comparative sanity of Shielfield Park.

United shuffled their pack after the Ashington victory, but youngster Richard Offiong retained his place on the bench and was again to come on and demonstrate his goalscoring prowess. LuaLua was given a further spell during which he scored twice and showed some neat ideas - presumably he'll be in against Lokeren on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Stevie Harper got his gloves dirty for the first time, Andy Griffin made a successful return from his latest injury nightmare and the Caldwell brothers reformed their double act in defence, younger brother Gary being given the captain's armband and either wearing a thick vest or showing evidence of having filled out.

In midfield Mark Boyd was rewarded for his impressive second half performance at Ashington with a start, and along with Diego Gavilan was probably our best performer overall. The Paraguayan was far more effective than on Tuesday, and looked to have been given different instructions, resulting in his dropping infield both in search of the ball and when in possession, rather than standing forlornly uninvolved on the wing.

As the game wore on, Harper gave way to the now rarely sighted keeper Jon Brain, while Pedro Dimas arrived to threaten down the left. The Portuguese youngster notched one goal and also cracked the woodwork twice, as he also looked livelier for having had a game under his belt earlier in the week. Olivier Bernard, star man from Tuesday had a quieter game, but as the local Rangers correspondent remarked, was constantly finding space to give his colleagues passing options.

So, another friendly in front of a watching Bobby Robson, another win, another fine night and a bagful of goals. Why can't life always be as pleasant as this? 

Quote of the night - the aforementioned ground announcer's roundup of salient information as the game kicked off:

"the man in the middle is Tom Brown, the man in the fur is Bradley Bear, and the man starting his first night behind bars is Jeffrey Archer."

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