Updated with midweek result: Berwick Rangers manager Kevin Haynes calls on players to treat every game left like a cup final
New Berwick Rangers manager Kevin Haynes’s wait for his first win since taking charge at Shielfield Park in January was extended to six games by a 3-2 defeat at Stirling University on Saturday and he’s now calling on his team to stand up and be counted to save their season before it’s too late.
That 15th loss of this campaign sees Rangers drop one place to third from bottom of the Scottish Lowland Football League table, on 23 points from 26 fixtures, only four off the relegation spot, prompting Haynes to urge his side to treat every one of the eight matches they’ve got left as if it were a cup final, beginning with a visit from fellow former Scottish Professional Football League outfit Cowdenbeath this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.
“Every single game is a big game now,” the 43-year-old told his club’s Facebook page after seeing another three points dropped.
“We’ve got eight cup finals left and we need to pick up points, and that has to happen sooner rather than later or the pressure will really be on.
“We’ll see what guys are made of if they don’t start to pick up points soon.”
Liam Buchanan and Ben Scarborough scored for the Northumbrians at Stirling six minutes into first-half stoppage time and two minutes after the break respectively after Sam Martin had put the students ahead on 39 minutes, but Finn Moffett equalised for the hosts on 54 minutes and Euan Walker got their winner three minutes ahead of full-time, leaving Haynes raging at his defence’s leakiness.
“The over-riding emotion now is anger,” he said.
“We’re conceding too many goals. It’s sloppy. I think certainly two of the three goals were avoidable, on our part. We’re giving the ball away cheaply.
“If you look at the season as a whole, we’ve always conceded goals, so that trend’s not stopping, but if we’re going to be conceding goals like we are, we need to be scoring more.
“We’re going to have to outscore teams 4-3 – that’s where we are just now.
“I can’t keep emphasising it enough – it’s individual errors that are costing us goals.
“The guys are all capable enough football players and they need to just take responsibility and be leaders and be determined not to concede goals.”
Rangers were hit by a further defeat on Tuesday in a friendly away to Newtongrange Star, going down 6-5 to the East of Scotland Football League first division side.
Jamie Watson scored twice for the visitors in Midlothian, along with Aaron Laidlaw, Jonny Devers and Buchanan, with Michael Jones and Jack Neilson twice each and Mitchell Bentley and Aidan Barrowman on target for their hosts.