Road trip shows journey ahead for new manager

Rovers’best away support for many a long year travelled down to Shielfield Park on Saturday.

Maybe it was the free bus laid on by an anonymous benefactor, or the best fish and chips at any ground in the country that swelled the numbers – but most likely it was the promise of a new dawn as Kevin Harper took charge for the first time.

Fans were hoping for the new-manager bounce that would give some hope of escaping our perilous league position, and seemed to be getting that with perhaps Rovers’best offensive period of the season at the start.

However, our fragile defence was breached on 33 minutes in Berwick’s first real attacking move.

It’s a familiar story and the manager highlighted the need for more robust defending.

Bodies need to be put on the line and the goal defended with more commitment than seen so far.

There’s also improvement needed at the other end of the park, and again the manager pointed out that had we scored during our 30 minutes of first-half domination, we would surely have come away with more.

It was a hugely disappointing result after recent performances against better sides and leaves us looking a bit isolated at the foot of the table.

Our Spanish midfield maestro was again outstanding but at times seemed to be playing a different game to those around him.

A week off now will hopefully give Kevin time to work with the squad and address some of the more glaring deficiencies.