Berwick Rangers striker Damon Gray will not be turning up for his club’s team bus that is heading for his former Easter Road home on Tuesday night although there is nothing sinister behind his move.
The 23-year-old will get there under his own steam as he lives within the shadow of their Leith ground as Gray explains: “I live about 10 seconds away from the ground so I will be much quicker just walking there so I will give the team bus a miss. I share a flat with another former Hibee Darren McCormack, who is now at Ross County, and we are literally on their doorstep.
“I played at Easter Road a couple of times but this will be the first time I have been there with the new Stand in place so it will be a wee bit different.”
Gray was in the youth system at Newcastle in his native north-east of England before heading to Scotland and finding the net on a regular basis for Hibernian's youth and reserve sides. His form earned him a first team call up and he made his debut as a substitute in a Scottish Cup Semi-Final against Dunfermline Athletic in April 2007.
Later that month, he grabbed his first goal in a 2-2 draw at Aberdeen and things were looking good for a career at Hibs as he explained: “I scored a lot of goals before I made my debut and when John Collins was the Manager, I had a really good spell and scored that goal when we played with a really young team at Pittodrie.”
Gray’s career never really took off although he has no regrets saying: “I had a number of Managers and coaches during my time at Hibs and to be fair, I learnt a bit from them all. I feel that I could have played more often than the five times I did but different Managers have different opinions so that was that.”
A loan spell at Partick Thistle saw Gray back in the spotlight as his goal threatened to knock Rangers out of the Scottish Cup in 2008 and he has fond memories of that night at Ibrox as he recalls: “There were a right good bunch of lads at Thistle then and I scored after a great through ball from Gary Harkins. They won the replay but we ran them close.
“Berwick have done well in cup games so far this season and have a big game coming up against Livingston in The Ramsdens Cup as well. I scored against Rangers so who knows, I may well score against Hibs.”
A second loan spell at Firhill was blighted by injury and he moved on to Berwick two years ago after being released by the Edinburgh club after making just five starting appearances. He then moved on to Swedish side Ostersunds before returning to Shielfield at the start of 2011.
Gray said: “Berwick have been good to me but the opportunity to go to Sweden was too good to turn down. I really enjoyed the experience but I have settled back down again at Berwick.”
Hibs had better be warned that Gray does not go easy on previous teams as Thistle can testify as he grabbed their first goal in the shock of the last round as The Borderers defeated The Jags 3-1.
Gray said: “It was a bit strange scoring against Thistle but you have to keep playing well at our club as we have real competition for players, particularly up front. Stuart Noble has come in and given us something different through his physical presence and last season’s top goalscorer, Darren Gribben, has also returned and is looking to start.
“Fraser McLaren has come off the bench in our last two games and scored so if you have a bad game, you will find yourself out of the team.”
Gray added: “I suppose I will be the one guy from Berwick who will not be too worried about coming home late if the game goes to extra-time and a penalty shoot-out especially if we can sneak a win.”
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