FREEZE A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW
Notman: I’m not sure Fabio signed up for baltic night in Berwick but Gers were class on and off the pitch for me
STEVEN NOTMAN admitted Berwick made it too easy for Fabio Cardoso on his return from injury as some of Rangers’ top-team stars came out of cold storage at shivering Shielfield Park.
But he reckons the Portuguese centre-back and the rest of Graeme Murty’s men will be better for their runout when they return to Premiership action after the international break.
Murty watched some of his players warm up for tomorrow’s clash against Hamilton at Ibrox with a 4-0 win over the Borderers on a freezing night.
Gers fan Notman had the night of his life after Murty included some big names to face the League Two side for his testimonial match.
Cardoso played an hour in his first game since the defender had his nose broken in the Betfred Cup semi-final defeat to Motherwell.
Central defensive partner David Bates netted the first before on-loan Manchester City winger Aaron Nemane added a second and Serge Atakayi and Jordan Thompson scored in the second half to round off a comfortable win.
Notman admitted the surroundings were a bit of a culture shock for Gers but said: “It was a good occasion and it was a decent turnout considering it was a cold night.
“Fabio Cardoso was obviously returning from injury and he looked decent but we didn’t cause him or David Bates too many problems.
“I wish we had tested them a bit more but it was difficult for us as well because we’ve got a massive Scottish Cup tie away to Arbroath on Saturday.
“There’s a bit of competition in central defence with Cardoso, Bruno Alves, Ross McCrorie and Danny Wilson, so we’ll see who plays on Saturday.
“I’m not sure a lot of the new boys signed up for a Wednesday night at Shielfield Park when they joined Rangers but they seemed to enjoy their runout.
“It’s a bit of a trek and was probably an eye-opener. But it shows their character and they were up for it.
“The surface was half decent and it was a good workout so I’m sure they got plenty out of it – even if our dressing rooms were a bit of a culture shock.
“The development team are playing against English and European teams this season so playing sides like us will maybe show them a different side and help them man up a bit.
“We’d only conceded two goals in seven matches prior to the game but we lost slack goals. I was impressed with a few of their younger boys, the winger Aaron Nemane and Jordan Thompson who scored the fourth was really good.
“He started in central midfield and moved to left-back and I was really impressed with him. He was at Manchester United and you could see his class.”
Notman was grateful to Rangers and Murty for agreeing to take part in his 10th year at Berwick and said: “The crowd was around 600 plus corporate which was decent for a midweek.
“I played with Craig Robertson at Vale of Leithen and he now works in the youth department at Murray Park.
“He said to me to give him a shout if I fancied playing the Rangers development side in my testimonial. But on Monday they added a handful of first-team players and I’m grateful.
“When I heard the news of the first-team players I thought it would pull in a few more punters.
“I read Graeme Murty saying they would be better getting a runout in a decent game as opposed to training.
“It will help with their fitness given it’s an international break and that will help ahead of the Hamilton match.
“There was a general understanding that it wasn’t going to be a rough game and there weren’t any bad challenges because we’ve got a big Scottish Cup game and nobody wanted any injuries. “Rangers left me a signed shirt and they were so good. Jonatan Johansson and Graeme Murty were congratulating me on my 10 years and I’m indebted to them.
“I’m a Rangers fan and a big bus came down from Innerleithen with most of my family, so it was a great occasion.”
It was an eye-opener but it did show their character. They were up for it STEVEN NOTMAN