Burgh Caught In The ‘rough’

The Burgh travelled down to Hawick for their penultimate game of the season in the basking sunshine. Sadly it had all the makings of a real end-of-season game with nothing at stake for either side and a match with little excitement or action of note. Newburgh’s place in the Second Division was secured in midweek, whilst Hawick were already confirmed as relegated alongside Lochgelly.

On a hard and bumpy pitch with more holes and divots than a golf course, it was never going to be a pretty experience but that is not excuse for a lacklustre performance with the home side perhaps deserving of 3 points in a game that won’t live long in the memory.

It was the visitors that started the better of the two sides as Michael Perrie’s effort through on goal was saved by the keeper, whilst Johnny Malcolm received a pass from Cai Macdonald to see his low effort saved in the 14th minute.

The only other action of note in the opening 45 minutes came two minutes before the break from a charging run from Macdonald on the left and cut back which saw Perrie’s effort flash wide of the post.

The second period started with Hawick looking the more threatening when Kamara ran onto a long ball to fire a good effort just wide in the 50th minute. The Burgh defence seemed to be a bit slow to react 4 minutes later as Ngoa’s effort was blocked by David Chalmers but Fowler was quickest on hand to follow up to net the rebound.

Calum Anderson’s long-range effort hit the bar in the 66th minute, whilst Macdonald’s effort was tipped over the bar by the Hawick keeper in the 78th minute. In between that Kamara was unable to follow up after Fowler’s effort had been blocked.

With time running out Ford had a rasping effort just over the bar but the match petered out without either side looking likely to add much more excitement to a drab, lacklustre affair in the sun.

Burgh conclude their campaign next Saturday with a home match against Tweedmouth Rangers and it would be nice for team to send the club into the summer break on a positive, upbeat note as the campaign has been one of a positive story of progression with high hopes of building on that for the new season.

But it is worth saying for the record that this season has still been a significant achievement for Newburgh Juniors Football Club. If you take into consideration where the club was this time 12 months ago, and even judge from the start of the season, it’s been a steep learning curve. But it’s been productive and successful too, and you can see the progress and development of this young squad under the wings and guidance of the Management team.

For that, they need to be applauded and the future is looking both stronger and brighter all the time.