GOAL!

above: Iain Diack (9) celebrates scoring what turned out to be the goal that would win Berwick their first League Championship in 28 years.

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Champions!

above: Robbie Horn and Grant McNicoll lift the trophy

Sing up for the Dreamteam

Saturday sees Berwick play their crucial Division Three Championship decider against Arbroath at Shielfield.

The Trust are urging everyone to wear their colours to the game and fans on Berwick Forums are collecting songs to be sung & played and together it should make it a really good atmosphere. The players, I know, get a real lift when the place is buzzing. So go on, come dressed in your colours and sing your heart out at the game and hopefully by tea time on Saturday we'll all be celebrating - even if our voices are a bit hoarse by then.

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Down to the wire

Stuart Fraser scored the all important goal today that got Berwick the three points they needed to set up the decider next weekend. Steve Noble's free kick came back off the post and with the keeper AWOL Fraser stabbed it in. Albion had some good chances to equalise but, much like Elgin last week, their finishing was woeful. Just as well.

Berwick played a 4-4-2 formation with Manson, back from suspension, at right back, Notman came into right midfield with Steven Noble, in for the suspended Haynes, on the left. Diack was upfront with David Greenhill for support. Notman had been able to run with the ball and provide some passes for Greenhill and Diack which prompted Coughlin to swap him around with Manson for the second half.

Ian Little was introduced as a replacement for Fraser (shoulder injury) and immediately Berwick had more bite and created chances again. Danny Swanson also came on for Berwick and again was prepared to run at the Albion defence. Except for one heart-stopping moment late on when Albion again threatened, and again failed, to equalise, Berwick finished the stronger. By the end both teams seemed exhausted playing for 90 minutes on such a warm day.

So, with Haynes available again next week, Gary Greenhill hopefully back in midfield too, Little and Swanson pressing for starting places it will be interesting to see whether Coughlin experiments in such a vital game - or goes with the players who've been doing the business over the season as a whole.

above: Stuart Fraser, on the score sheet today, feeling the effects of his shoulder injury.

above: Diack sends one round the wall. The keeper got to this one sadly.

above: A welcome return to action for Danny Swanson

above: Ian Little looks for a way to tuck this one away

above: nervous fans

Baffled

Berwick drew 0-0 with Elgin on Saturday in a poor game. Elgin had most of the best chances to be honest. Berwick were missing Manson and Wood suspended, along with the injured McNicoll. The big talking point was the inept refereeing team's performance, part of which left Berwick with only 10 men - Kevin Haynes being ordered off. There was no real fluency about the performance today and as such goal scoring opportunities were at a premium for Berwick.

This result, along with a win for Arbroath, makes it too tight for comfort at the top - just 2 points separate us from Arbroath. Next week we play Albion Rovers at Coatbridge while Queen's Park visit Gayfield.

above: Here the ref - Andrew McWilliam - clearly shows a red card, watched by Ian Thomson, after he's booked an Elgin player. No one leaves the pitch. It's presumed he was mistaken into thinking the Elgin boy had been booked earlier.

above: Two bookings in as many minutes and big Kevin Haynes sees red for the third time this season. It seemed fairly innocuous to be honest as he seemed to have just beaten his man and was heading down the right hand side of the park.

above: In the first half this Fraser effort hit the bar. There were relatively few Berwick efforts that tested the keeper today.

above: Again in the first half, here Haynes takes control.

above: Stuart Fraser man-handled

above: Gary Greenhill looks to beat an Elgin opponent

above: Gary O'Connor's saves kept Berwick in the game.

Top performance

Just out of curiosity I took a look at the results from November onwards tonight. Clearly Berwick have had a fantastic run but Arbroath and Queen's Park have too. So with just four games to it's worth laying it out. It makes good reading... So for all stattos out there:

October 31 2006 - this is how it looked

1.East Fife P13 W9 D2 L2 Pts29
2.Dumbarton P12 W6 D2 L4 Pts20
3.Queens Park P12 W6 D2 L4 Pts20
4.Berwick R P12 W6 D2 L4 Pts20
5.Arbroath P12 W6 D1 L5 Pts19

Now - April 4th

1.Berwick R P32 W22 D2 L8 Pts68
2.Arbroath P32 W20 D4 L8 Pts64
3.Queens Park P32 W19 D5 L8 Pts62
4.East Fife P32 W17 D7 L8 Pts58
5.Dumbarton P32 W15 D5 L12 Pts50

Berwick have won 16 of those 20 league games since November started. A phenomonal record. No draws in that time at all. Four defeats (Dumbarton, Nov 4; Elgin Feb 3, Arbroath Feb 24 and QP Mar 10)

Arbroath have only lost 3, Queen's Park 4 but have more draws so have only won 14 and 13 respectively. Not bad going either really.

Over the next month, maybe sooner, we'll know how it'll end. As my wee boy says "go on Berwick"

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