Berwick Rangers manager Stuart Malcolm ‘ecstatic’ over 4-1 win at East Stirlingshire

East Stirlingshire and Berwick Rangers vying for possession on Saturday (Pic: Scott Louden)

That win lifts Rangers up to 11th place in the Scottish Lowland Football League, with 38 points from 26 matches, ahead of a visit from 14th-placed Cumbernauld Colts this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.

That reverse fixture comes two weeks after Berwick drew 3-3 with their visitors at Cumbernauld’s Broadwood Stadium.

Reviewing Saturday’s win at the Falkirk Stadium, Malcolm told his club’s Facebook page, he said: “I’m absolutely ecstatic.

Berwick Rangers players celebrating Lewis Baker's 88th-minute penalty against East Stirlingshire (Pic: Scott Louden)

“I thought we were good. We worked extremely hard.”

Liam Buchanan put Rangers ahead on 15 minutes with a deflected shot but that lead was cancelled out a minute later by a goal for a trialist for Sandy Clark’s Shire side.

Lewis Allan tapped home a Buchanan cross to put Berwick in front on the stroke of half-time, however.

Graham Taylor increased that lead on 67 minutes and Lewis Baker netted from the penalty spot just ahead of the final whistle to make the final scoreline 4-1, completing a winning double for Rangers after beating their opponents 3-0 at home back in August.

“In terms of performance, I thought there wasn’t too much in the game in the first half,” added Malcolm.

“The goals that we scored were in a good phase of play for us.

“In the second half, they definitely still posed a threat, but we dealt with that particularly well.

"We spoke at half-time about what we needed to do a bit better, and then we had the chance to get some boys off the park and some guys on the park, which was pleasing.

Berwick Rangers manager Stuart Malcolm watching his side beat East Stirlingshire 4-1 (Pic: Scott Louden)

“We’ve come away from home and we’ve won 4-1 against what I thought were a very, very well-set-up team. They’re very hard to beat.”

Malcolm hopes to have Jamie Stevenson available for selection for Saturday’s game against Cumbernauld Colts at Shielfield Park.

The 38-year-old defender has been out injured since the start of January but could be back in contention for a place at the weekend.

Loanee Blair Sneddon, Alex Harris and Cammy Graham, taken off with suspected concussion against East Stirlingshire, are unlikely to be available, though.