Dalbeattie Star’s perfect start to the new Lowland League season came to a disappointing end on Saturday.
Star went into the clash with Berwick Rangers top of the league after winning all five of their opening fixtures.
However, Lewis Allan’s 27th minute goal at Shielfield put paid to that.
Boss Ritchie Maxwell said: “It was quite a scrappy game.
“ They were big, physical and played up to their front two quickly.
“ They put a lot of balls into the box and I feel we got dragged into a battle.
“We didn’t play the way we have been in terms of getting on the ball and playing through the lines.
“It wasn’t a great game and the goal was really unfortunate. We tried to clear it, it took a deflection off one of their players and put their centre forward through one-on-one. It was disappointing.
“We certainly didn’t deserve to win the game but we could maybe have got away with a point.
“It’s disappointing for the run to end but we’ve got to put it in perspective as well. It’s one defeat in the opening six games. We’ve still had a really good start to the season. We can’t take away from that.”
Having ridden a wave of confidence that took his side to the top of the table, Maxwell must now pick his players up from what, for this season, was a rare defeat.
This weekend they welcome Spartans to Islecroft with the Edinburgh side also on a good run that sees them just three points behind Star.
Maxwell said: “With the group of boys we’ve got and the players we’ve brought in, I’m confident they will respond in the right manner.
“It’s going to be difficult game, Spartans are on a very good run themselves but these are the games we want to be involved in. They’re up and round about us at the top of the league and that’s where we’d rather be.
“We want to make sure we’ve got a really good home record. We’ve started off well and we want to maintain that.”
