'I was very disappointed in our performance' - Berwick Rangers boss Stuart Malcolm hits out after shock cup defeat at minnows Stoneyburn

Malcolm’s men conceded a goal in the very first minute on Saturday via a cracking strike from the edge of the box, before equalising on 11 minutes when Martin Rennie headed in a flighted delivery into the box.

Level at 1-1 at half-time, tier nine Stoneyburn struck just one minute into the second half to stun their tier five visitors.

Malcolm told The Berwickshire News: “We’ve not got too many complaints. We made changes to the team to freshen it up.

"On the day Stoneyburn deserved to win. Our players didn’t apply themselves as expected. I was very disappointed in our performance.

"We have brought in experienced players but a lot of them have still to find their feet which they need to do pretty quickly.

"The goals we gave away were absolutely criminal, really poor.

"At the other end of the park we looked a bit lax in our attacking play. We looked a bit better when Jamie Stevenson and Graham Taylor came on the park but we were really chasing the game.

"I take responsibility for picking a team but what I do expect is for the players to apply themselves better than they did.”

Berwick, 11th in the Lowland League with nine points from six games, have signed former Gretna 2008 midfielder Griffin Sabatini, a Zimbabwean-born 23-year-old who grew up in Switzerland and was previously with the Swiss youth sides of Meryin, Lancy and FC Vernier, on a permanent contract.

Malcolm said: “Griffin has played the last couple of games. He needed game time because he’s lacking a bit of fitness.

"He’s a good football player who gives us good balance in the middle of the park.”

Berwick return to league duties this Saturday in a home fixture against Caledonian Braves.

"The league is the bread and butter,” Malcolm said. “So we need to regroup again this week and again there will be changes to the team.

"We need to try and pick up maximum points in these games.

"We need a massive response because it’s been a bit of a hectic start to the season. Some of the players previously there who we expected to step up have struggled to find their feet."