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Looks like its time to go boys. Thank you.

Final Standings With the regular season done and dusted, Cove Rangers and Berwick Rangers finished top and bottom of their respective divisions; Cove Rangers won the Highland League for the second year running, this time around clinching a 8 point gap over second placed Brora - in 17/18, the Aberdeen-based side finished 11 points ahead of Formartine, showing that these particular Rangers seem to be a bigger fish than the size of their pond lets on. Incredibly, 100 goals were scored across 34 matches, with the Cove goalie conceding just 12(!). This strong form continued into the first round of the promotion play-offs, with a scrappy 1-2 win at East Kilbride's K-Park being followed up with a comprehensive 3-0 rout of the Lowland champions at Balmoral Stadium - a 5-1 aggregate is nothing to scoff at. On the other side of the trapdoor, Berwick Rangers' bottom completely fell out - 19 lonesome points being three worse than Cowdenbeath's tally in 17/18 and 13(!) less than East Stirlingshire's record during the season in which they were relegated. Since the introduction of the then-Third Division back in 1994/1995, only three sides scored fewer points than this season's Dream Team; Albion Rovers in 94/95 and East Stirlingshire in 02/03 and 04/05. Things could have been different, for this season's Albion Rovers are the second worst 9th placed team - behind the 03/04 Elgin City side (25 points) - but Berwick failed to capitalize on Rovers' insanely week start to the season under John 'Let's sign Alloa's development squad and call it a day' Brogan. Cove Rangers Back in 2017/2018, the Cove Rangers thread down in the Highland League section of Pie & Bovril was titled 'Cove on the Move' - a play on words that may well have proven to be prophetic were it not for scrappy Cowdenbeath barring the Highland League champions entry to League 2 in the play-offs. Another season of battering the other Highland sides later and the 7-times champions are eager to succesfully operate the Trapdoor this time around - this time with a scintillating form to their name seeing as the last time Cove dropped points was way back on the 23rd of March, when Brora held the blue-clad Aberdeen squad to a 1-1 draw. For comparison, the last time Berwick picked up any points was the 19th of March..... Since the Brora bump in the road, Cove played and won 5 league games - Fort William, Wick Academy, Keith, Forres Mechanics, and Clachnacuddin were all beaten - scoring 15 times and conceding just once. The last time a team put more than a single goal past Cove was on the 6th of March (Rothes scored twice but shipped 6 goals themselves) and the last time a team actually beat them was on December 1st 2018 when Fraserburgh secured a 1-0 win at home. Cove's team features a smattering of SFL experience, including the likes of Martin Scott (ex-Livi, Hibs, Ross County, Arbroath, Stenny, Raith, and Salgaocar - wait, who?), Jamie Masson (Aberdeen, Elgin, Brechin), Jordon Brown (Aberdeen, Forfar, and about 180 matches for Peterhead), and Mitchel Megginson (Aberdeen, Arbroath, Brechin, Alloa, Dumbarton, and Brechin). Blair Yule of Arbroath fame is another prominent member of the squad, as is Ryan Strachan - another former Peterhead stalwart. Berwick Rangers Click the spoiler for a season recap Berwick Rangers haven't won a game - or indeed picked up points - since the 19th of March when league leaders Peterhead were beaten 2 to 0. Since, 6 matches under Johnny Harvey resulted in 0 goals forward and 20 against, while the single match under John Browlie and Ian Little was a merciful 2-0 loss at the hands of Elgin. A team that has been built, refurbished, and demolished by Robbie Horn and Johnny Harvey this season, Berwick's hopes are pinned on key players Dougie Brydon and Jordan Orru, both returning from a couple of weeks of injury, and Ousman 'Ouzy' See, who has been out of the game for about 8 months following a broken leg incurred at Montrose (back when they were still in League 2). Promotion/Relegation Play-Off; Leg 1 of the Trapdoor Having mentioned Montrose we can safely say that there is a life after the Trapdoor - with the Angus side having impressively secured a second season in League 1. Of course, the Gable Endies never actually fell down to the Highland/Lowland League. Conversely, League 2 strugglers of old East Stirlingshire are into their theird season in the Lowland League, with crowds averaging 180 odd fans having witnessed a sixth place finish this season. The other SFL team to have experienced the perils of the Trapdoor - Cowdenbeath - have steered clear of immediate danger by ending 6th in League 2 this season. Whichever example Berwick Rangers will follow - survival and great/limited success or relegation and a new reality - the Dream Team have one final shot to save their skin and membership of the SFL due to the relatively closed-off nature of the pyramid, which is more than most teams in their position in other European countries can say. Even then, should relegation occur, Berwick will receive parachute payments (possibly in the form of Ladbrokes sponsorship like East Stirlingshire received) and continued access to the Challenge and League Cups for 2019/2020. Still, with East Kilbride continuing their stint in the Lowland League, the Wee 'Gers will be in serious trouble if they want to bounce back at the first time of asking. As for Cove, promotion to League 2 will have never been easier to achieve than this season given the league performance of Club 42, and the Aberdeen-side will be hungrier than ever following their controversial (their words, not mine) defeat at the hands of Cowdenbeath last season. They seem to have outgrown the Highland League and have shown willingness to be promoted - and should they reach their goal they will undoubtedly make a fist of their first season in the SFL, which should worry the current members. May 11th will be the first leg of this play-off between two very different teams, both with their own ambitions; Cove will look to turn their home advantage into a convincing win to make the return a dead rubber, whilst Berwick will be pleased to keep the tie alive ahead of their home match on the 18th of May. If you are in the area, consider making the trip to Balmoral Stadium and see for yourself how exciting football at this level and stage of the season can be. Cove play in all-blue adidas teamwear at home; considering the fact that Berwick's away shirt is light blue with navy shorts and hooped socks, expect the Black and Gold to turn out in, well, black and gold. I don't have a graphic for Cove's kit so please accept my substituting it with the 2010/2011 Peterborough United home shirt.

A fixture that will no doubt garner more interest than under normal circumstances due to the precarious positions of both clubs in the current standings, this Saturday will see Albion Rovers play host to Berwick Rangers at the Reigart Demolitions Stadium (formerly Cliftonhill). Albion come into this game having lost 8 straight games, conceding 20 and scoring 1 (five matches ago against Edinburgh City). Their last (and indeed only) league win dates back to September, with their most recent match (last Saturday v. Annan) being a 4-0 spanking. The wee Rovers sit tenth in the standings with 7 points and a goal difference of minus 44 Rangers have lost 7 games on the spin, conceding 21 and scoring 3. Their most recent match was a reasonably close fought 1-2 at home against Annan yesterday, but it did little to dispell the memories of a shambolic 7-1 at Hampden earlier this month. The Dream Team have garnered 14 points so far, thanks in no small part to two wins over Albion Rovers, with a goal difference of minus 42. A win for Berwick will give them a ten point lead over Rovers with 8 games left to play for the latter, whilst the Coatbridge side will close the gap to safety to just four points with a win. With Cove or East Kilbride very able and willing to operate the Trapdoor at the end of the season, this is a match neither team can afford to lose.

Current Standings With the end of the 2018/2019 season looming and some League 2 teams having already booked their holiday tickets, Berwick Rangers and Albion Rovers will meet on Saturday the 27th of April for what may prove to be the deciding match in the relegation battle this year. As can be seen, the Wee Rovers hold a five point advantage over the Wee 'Gers, with a significantly better goal difference to boot. Albion Rovers Having experienced what for all intents and purposes is a footballing resurrection since John Brogan was kicked to the curb earlier in the season, Albion Rovers are fresh off the back of a creditable 3-2 win over Edinburgh City and a hard-fought last minute draw versus table toppers Peterhead. These results coupled with a string of three wins in March have seen the club once thought dead and buried return to the land of the living, much to the delight (and surprise) of their fans and well-wishers from the larger football community. A draw versus Berwick Rangers will seal Rovers' safety and the completion of what the club's Twitter has coined #thegreatestescape. Gaffer Kevin Harper will look to secure a bronze statue of himself standing outside Coatbridge by clinching this final point needed to preserve Albion Rovers' League membership. Berwick Rangers On the other side of the Border, Berwick Rangers are finishing the season in the same way Albion Rovers started theirs; slumping to heavy defeats while conceding for fun and failing to convert any chances on the opposition's side of the field. The Black and Gold haven't scored a single goal since their coupon-busting 2-0 win over Peterhead on the 19th of March, recording five straight defeats with 17 goals scored by the opposition. The win over Peterhead was Berwick's only victory over the past 21(!) games, which included just four draws; the mathematicians among us will tell you that this means the Dream Team have taken 7 points from a possible 63. Nothing short of a win will be enough to keep Berwick's hopes of 9th place alive - which will be the target with previously injured Ousman 'Ouzy' See and Jordan Orru returning to the fold. They join a squad of which more than a dozen members were recruited by current manager Johnny Harvey. Final Day of the Season & Play-Offs Berwick and Rovers will meet Elgin and Annan respectively on the final day of the season; a draw or Rovers victory will render those matches dead rubbers as Berwick will be unable to overturn a 5/8 point deficit in just a single match. Even in the event of a win for the home side on the 27th, Berwick will need to beat Elgin and cross their fingers promotion-play-off bound Annan don't take their foot off the gas pedal versus Albion Rovers (who would only need a point to secure League status due to their far superior goal difference). Berwick Rangers will feel themselves to be an occupant of the last chance saloon, staring down the barrel of a face-off with East Kilbride or Cove Rangers should they lose, whereas Albion Rovers need just one final draw to book that flight to Ibiza. With all ingredients in place for an absolute classic bottom-of-the-table scrap, a bumper crowd is expected for what may well end up being the undoing of one of the involved clubs. Expect Albion Rovers to wear their red away tops on the day, in lieu of their yellow home and black third strips clashing with Berwick's home colours;