BERWICK turned in a hugely disappointing performance as they slumped to an equally disappointing defeat at the hands of bottom dogs Montrose on Saturday.

The Angus side arrived at Shielfield, remarkably still looking to get off the mark with their first league win of the season, and following Rangers' 5-1 away win at Elgin the previous weekend, there couldn't have been that many who thought the Links Park outfit would break their duck in this match.

But Berwick, who in all honesty have struggled to recapture their form following the enforced lay-off due to the bad weather, simply didn't get out of the starting blocks.

They failed to compete in every department - the defence struggled to cope with the long ball, the midfield lacked any steel and up front they just didn't have any cutting edge.

Only goalkeeper Mark Peat came out of the game with any plus marks, as in the first half in particular he came to his side's rescue at least thrice to deny potential scoring opportunities.

The first of these came just two minutes into the game when a long ball down the right of centre saw the menacing John Gemmill outpace the home back four. Peat rushed off his line to narrow the angle and spread himself well to block from close range.

But the warning sides were there and just a few minutes later strike partner Paul Tosh also beat the offside trap to latch onto another long ball.

Rangers, on the back of their biggest win of the season at Borough Briggs, fielded the same 11 players for this game, which meant no place in the starting line-up for full-back Elliot Smith and skipper Stuart Callaghan, who were both available again after finally serving their two match suspensions.

And with fit again striker Damon Gray also left on the bench, that meant another chance for Steven Radzynski, who had emerged as the two-goal hero at Elgin.

But he struggled to make any sort of impact on this occasion, which was down to a mixture of a shortage of chances being created from the midfield and a lack of quality in front of goal on the player's part.

He did manage to create one opening when he poked the ball across the face of the goal, but David Greenhill, who also had a poor first half, was unable to connect.

Ian Little did manage to direct a header straight at goalkeeper Andrew McNeil when a corner was knocked back across the box to him, but such was Berwick's lack of fire power that this was to be their only direct effort on goal in the entire 90 minutes.

The inevitable happened in the 25th minute when Montrose found themselves in front courtesy of an own goal from fullback Steven Notman.

To be fair to the defender he probably didn't know that much about it as the ball bounced off him at the back post when Gemmill's cross from the right squirmed through a bunch of players in the area.

But once again questions were asked of the back four as they again failed to cope when they couldn't get back to deal with the through ball.

Peat then twice had to come to Berwick's rescue to keep them in the game at half-time.

First of all he again rushed from his line to deny dangerman Gemmill who found himself clean through, and then he had to block at point-blank range when a cutting move by the visitors saw Steven Nicholas break down the right. He cut the ball square to Hugh Donaldson, but thankfully the keeper was alert enough to prevent what looked like a certain score.

The situation didn't improve any in the second half. Berwick did manage to see a little bit more of the ball, but they just couldn't find a way past the big Montrose defence, even in the absense of their player-manager Steven Tweed.

Radzynski fell back as he shot over the top from the edge of the box. He also tried his luck from distance but was way off target and he also pulled another effort wide when under pressure from his marker.

It came as little surprise when he was substituted after 72 minutes by Gray, ten minutes after Callaghan was introduced as a replacement for Oliver Russell.

Cal injected a little more urgency into Berwick's play, but by this stage they were chasing the game and Montrose, who had pulled back into defence, seemed prepared to settle for what they had.

The visitors' second goal came in the 89th minute, and again it was a score which summed up Berwick's afternoon to a tee.

Another long ball through the middle saw three Berwick players get themselves in a muddle. Peat rushed off his line, but the ball somehow squirmed through and Tosh, who ran past them all, was left with the easiest of tap-ins.

After the match the Montrose players celebrated in the dressingroom like they had won the league.

Tweed admitted it was 'just a release.' "It's been a long time coming," he said, "but it's not been for the want of trying. The longer the run has gone on the greater the pressure has become, but during all of it I cannot fault the players at all because they have always given me 100 per cent."

The mood was in stark contrast to the Berwick side of the tunnel where it was clear improvements need to be made - and fast - if they are to remain in contention for the play-offs.

Over the next fortnight they face East Stirling and Annan (away) and Forfar at home, games which are likely to have a significant impact on their final league placing.

Berwick - Peat 7, Notman 6, McMullan 5, Ewart 4, McLean 5, Russell 5 (Callaghan 62), Mclaren 5, Currie 5, Radzynski 4 (Gray 72), Little 6, Greenhill 4 (McGregor 80).