Berwick Rangers up for cup and buzzing, says manager Kevin Haynes

​“The Scottish Cup is always special,” the 44-year-old told the Scottish Lowland Football League club’s Facebook page.

“I’ve been involved in football a long time, both playing and managing, and you get a different buzz on Saturday morning when you wake up. The players will have that same buzz.

“It’s something I’m looking forward to.

“Nairn are in a great bit of form, so one thing I’ll guarantee is there’ll be goals in the game.

“We’re good for goals in a game and I can’t see it being any different.”

Saturday’s cup tie is the two teams’ first meeting since 1969 and Berwick go into it sitting 13th in their league, on 13 points from ten fixtures, following a 4-3 win away to manager Jonny Stewart’s Bonnyrigg Rose on Saturday.

Nairn are seventh in their table, on 19 points from a dozen games.

The Northumbrians made it to round two of the cup last season, going out 1-0 away to Forfar Athletic last October, after two first-round exits on the trot, losing 5-1 away to Highlanders Brora Rangers in September 2023 and 2-1 at Linlithgow Rose 12 months prior.

It’s now ten years since they last made it to the quarter-finals, going out 4-0 away to Hibernian in March 2015, and almost 60 years since they pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the cup, a 1-0 first-round knockout of Glasgow’s Rangers at home in January 1967.

Berwick had to fight back from going two goals down to claim their first league win ever against Bonnyrigg in Midlothian at the weekend.

Their hosts’ scorers were Laurie Devine on seven minutes, Neil Martynuik on 16 from the penalty spot and Cammy Ross on 72.

Michael Mbewe got two goals for the visitors, on 34 minutes and 64, with Caelan McCrone and Greg Binnie on target too, on 70 and, from the spot, 85.

Haynes was over the moon about that turnaround, making amends for defeats home and away in their last two league games prior, by 4-1 in March 2022 and 3-0 the preceding September respectively.

“For a neutral, it must have been outstanding,” he said.

“The number of chances created by both teams was phenomenal.

“It must have been some game to watch, though it was a bit nervy for me.

“The second-half performance was probably the best we’ve been over a large period of a game and I thought we controlled the majority of it.

“Obviously, Bonnyrigg had chances, but we had just as many chances.

“If that game had finished 5-5, it would have probably been fair.

“We’ve not lost two Lowland League games in a row this season. Last week was the first time we had lost two games consecutively, so we were adamant that this wasn’t going to be the first time that we would lose two Lowland League games in a row, this season anyway – and Saturday is even bigger than that.”

Rangers’ next league match is away to fourth-placed Caledonian Braves next Tuesday, with kick-off in Motherwell at 7.45pm.

They go into that game looking for their first league win against the North Lanarkshire side since one by 1-0 at home in July 2021, having lost six of their seven meetings since and drawn the other.

Kick-off versus Nairn at Shielfield Park this Saturday is at 3pm.