Airdrie United 3 - 0 Berwick Rangers
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A hat-trick from Allan Russell secured a comfortable 3-0 victory for Airdrie United over Berwick Rangers at New Broomfield last night and kept the Diamonds faint title hopes alive. Russell has now scored five goals in the past five days after following up his double at Hampden against Queens Park on Saturday.
In truth, Airdrie were never in danger of losing this game and were on easy street after Russell’s quickfire double early in the first half. The first goal came from a nice hooked volley and the second after nice linkup play, although the Berwick keeper should have done better.
Marco Andreoni was restored to the starting lineup and produced a much better performance in the middle of the park, with Steven McKenna moving back to centre half in place of the suspended Marc Smyth. Kevin Watt was handed a start upfront, with Stuart Noble operating on the left wing with Ricky Waddell replacing Paul Lovering at left back.
It was a good Airdrie performance, which built on Saturday’s improved performance and hopefully we are now coming out of what was an admittedly poor run of form in recent weeks.
Russell completed his hat-trick in the second half, although again the Berwick keeper will probably feel he should have done better. Goodness knows what Johnny Martin, the Berwick assistant manager, will have thought about his keeper.
In a shockingly low crowd of just 611, we got our best atmosphere of the season in the form of a group of Werder Bremen fans who were relatively amusing and to their credit, fair play for coming to the game. How long before Allan Russell is linked with a move to the Bundesliga giants?
Airdrie United: Robertson, McKenna, Waddle, McDonald, Donnelly, Andreoni (Brady 88), Smith, Campball, Russell (Gillies 71), Noble, Watt (Prunty 64). Subs Not Used: Lovering, Hollis.
Goals: Russell 10, 11, 62.
Att: 611
Player Ratings:
Robbo: Had absolutely nothing to do, possibly the quietest game of his career (6/10)
Campbell: I like the look of him, hasn’t done anything wrong yet and seems reasonably solid (6/10)
Waddell: Once again, Ricky gave an assured performance at left back. He’s not a left winger, but he does seem to be a better option than Lovers at left full back because he can get up and down the park, is a decent defender and put in some good deliveries in difficult conditions last week (7/10)
McKenna: Not really tested, but coped well when asked (6/10)
Donnelly: Solid at the back, some good tackles and a few nice passes to setup attacks (7/10)
Smith: Is coming onto a game in my opinion, starting to be more of an attacking threat and unlucky not to score (7/10)
Noble: Didn’t have his best game as not a lot was coming off in the first half but improved in the second half and put in another good shift (6/10)
McDonald: Battled hard as always and an excellent through ball for Prunty showed his class (7/10)
Andreoni: Didn’t start well, but improved as the game went on and much improved on recent displays. Was a lot more positive last night and spread the ball about nicely (7/10)
Watt: Worked hard, but didn’t get himself into the game. Still not ready to play 90 minutes (6/10)
Russell: Another game won thanks to the big man, took his goals well and worked hard through out. His recent form dip has been to do with confidence rather than work-rate and you could see the improvement last night after his goals on Saturday. Could be the man to fire us into division one.
Man of the Match: Allan Russell
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