Berwick Rangers defender Elliott Smith is determined that the Shielfield men get back to winning ways this weekend against Queen’s Park after a four match run of draws. Finishing all square with Stranraer, East Stirlingshire, Annan Athletic and Montrose has taken the Borderers unbeaten start to the season up to nine League games although it has seen them slip off top spot in the table and the 26-year-old is no mood to settle for that come the end of the season.
Smith, like his namesake Darren at Brechin City, is a product of Edinburgh boys club football and he played in great company when he was younger.
He explained, “I was at Salvesen Boys Club to begin with and then moved to Hutchison Vale. In my age group we had a great team with guys like Derek Riordan, Steven Whittaker and Gary O’Connor who have all gone on to play for Scotland and Ryan Harding who played with Livingston, Morton and East Stirling before heading to Malta.
“I was signed up by Hearts from there and spent four seasons there although I never made the first team. I had quite a few sniffs at being involved but never quite got there.”
Keen to get playing games, Smith moved into the SFL to play for a Hibernian legend at Fife’s Central Park.
He said, “I joined Cowdenbeath on loan in February 2003 under Keith Wright in the First Division and that got me some games. I really enjoyed it and I played there at left back as I have my entire career although I am actually right footed. I still reckon I am a right back playing in a left back position.
“When I was released by Hearts in the summer of 2003, I thought I was going to be joining Clyde, who were in the First Division then, but that never worked out so I went up to Montrose in the Third Division.
“I really enjoyed my time there and I am still very friendly with guys like Martin Wood and Scott Michie who were there at the time. Martin had started his career at Motherwell and Scott at Aberdeen so they were good players as well as good guys. ”
Whilst he made friends with players, developing a relationship with a Manager was more troublesome with Smith explaining, “It was a bit of an unstable time for Managers at Links Park and I played under a few.
“John Sheran signed me only to leave shortly afterwards and Henry Hall was probably the Manager that was there most of my time at Montrose.”
After a year in Angus, Smith came back down the country to Berwick Rangers under Manager Paul Smith in the summer of 2004. Manager Smith was also to depart the scene quickly as he was dismissed by the Shielfield club.
“I never really settled at the club,” said Smith before adding, “I went back to Montrose halfway through the season.
“Henry Hall was still in charge and I had to get special dispensation from the SFL to move as it was so soon after leaving. It was in breach of registration regulations as it was within 12 months of leaving the club however, we managed to get it done.
“I played there for almost a year and then I got the chance to move to East Fife in January 2006. At the start of the following season, we were really going for promotion to the Second Division and things had started off well. We were leading the table at the end of the year but slipped away after that and finished fourth.”
It was to be a disappointing time as Smith said, “Although we defeated Stranraer in the Play-Off Semi-Finals, we ended up losing against Queen’s Park in the Final. That was a really horrible way for things to end after such a promising start.”
Smith moved north again to join Forfar Athletic after the Play-Off disappointment and he really enjoyed his two year stay at Station Park saying, “I had some great times there, firstly under Jim Moffat and then Dick Campbell and his brother ‘Pink’ (Ian). I really enjoyed it and although we struggled in the first season I was there, we were much better in the second.
“We could have been promoted to the Second Division that year but we had a bit of a backlog of games caused by postponements and a Scottish Cup clash with Rangers that was moved for live TV and then postponed as well. We ended up playing two games a week for about six weeks to catch up and we ran out of gas.”
Smith added, “The squad size at most Third Division clubs could not cope with the amount of games that we were playing.”
The clash with Rangers in the Scottish Cup was lost 4-0 and it was to bring Smith fame he could have done without as he explains, “It was great for Forfar that the game went out live on Sky but I was given a straight red card after about an hour.
“I work for a Financial Services company in Edinburgh called t4 Marketing and you can imagine what the people there and the clients wanted to talk about!
“Despite that, I loved my time at Forfar and if it had not been for the travelling involved from my base in Edinburgh, I would probably have stayed longer.”
When it came to finding a new club in the summer of 2009, former colleague Ian Little got in touch to invite Smith back to Berwick where he is Player/Assistant Manager to Jimmy Crease.
Crease’s side started the 2009/10 season well and were a permanent fixture in the top four during the first half of the season only to finish in sixth place with Smith saying, “It ended up being a very frustrating time as we would go on a good run and then go on a bad run.
“To be honest, we were left with a feeling that we deserved more out of last season than we got.”
Determined to add to his firepower for this season, Crease brought Darren Gribben and Craig O’Reilly back from the Junior ranks and Smith has welcomed the impact they have made.
He said, “The squad is certainly strengthened and we carry more of a threat. I played with Craig at East Fife and Darren has a real eye for a goal and the two of them look like a real partnership.
“Although we have drawn a few games recently, we are still unbeaten.”
Last Saturday Berwick progressed in the Scottish Cup at the expense of Third Division rivals Clyde 2-1 at Broadwood and Smith reckons that was a big game to win.
The full-back said, “To get a team from your own division at such an early stage in the competition is hard, especially away from home. One of us is going to go out at the first bite of the cherry and that is difficult.
“It would have been us that would have gone out based on our first half performance and we were really lucky to go in at half-time still level. The second half was a lot better and we deserved to go through by the end.
“It is back to League business this weekend and that is our bread and butter and we will be looking to get another win over Queen’s Park this weekend. We beat them 2-0 at their place and a repeat of that would be great.”
After Queen’s Park, it is Arbroath away and that is another tight looking game with Smith saying, “We have a tough run of games coming up and both of these sides will be out for a bit of revenge against us.”
As for the rest of the season, Smith said, “The minimum we are looking for at Berwick is the Play-Offs but I want us to be there or thereabouts at the top of the table come the end of the season. If we can keep the squad together and keep them fit, I am sure we can do that.”
Smith knows that the men from just over the Border are entering a crucial stage of the season as he explained, “I have played at this level for years now and I know that the next few weeks are crucial. What you do in the run-up to the New Year and then in January is crucial to any hopes we have of being in the promotion chase.
“If we come through that period in a challenging position, I am sure we will go on and do well.”
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