Keith Moorhouse can still recall the day fondly.
The Cove Rangers chairman, flanked by numerous club officials, sponsors and supporters, made his way from Aberdeen to Berwick to witness their own little bit of history.
“We all met at Aberdeen train station for breakfast, at one of the restaurants in Union Square. It was ourselves, directors, family and friends, sponsors and staff. We all travelled on the train. I’m well aware lots of people made their own way down, by whatever mode they code. It was a great laugh, the journey.
“If I remember rightly (club captain) Eric Watson was on that train; I don’t think he was able to go with the guys the night before. I remember him texting that morning asking what train we were getting on. He thankfully didn’t partake in any alcohol pre-match.”
Cove already held a dominant position at that stage, being 4-0 up from the first leg at the Balmoral Stadium. As much as he did not want to jinx matters, Moorhouse was quietly confident.
“We went for lunch that day, at a hotel in the centre of Berwick. The board, family and friends, sponsors and John (Sheran) was there with his family. I think we all felt at the time, without being overly confident, we’d given ourselves a chance. The way the guys started the game put us at ease.”
There was little nervousness about Cove’s performance. Berwick were swept aside with relative ease, with Cove’s aggregate victory of 7-0 not especially flattering.
However, all of their play-off successes, firstly against East Kilbride and then Berwick, had come with John Sheran’s health issues at the forefront of their minds.
Sheran had suffered a heart attack after they were presented with the Highland League title and missed the play-off games, with Graeme Mathieson and Roy McBain guiding the team through.
“I remember over the four games, we’d be in contact every day. I text him during the East Kilbride home game, to say Jimmy Scott had been sent off and he just said ‘please don’t text me any more’. As soon as he said that to me, I hoped my text messages hadn’t created a situation for him health-wise but thankfully not. I’m sure there were plenty of messages being sent to John that day other than mine.
“His whole family came down to the second game (at Berwick) and I remember he was parked between myself and his wife. It was under orders that whatever happened he had to sit on his own hands; that didn’t last long and you could sense he wanted to be in the technical area. But he knew he had to do what was right for himself and his family.”
Moorhouse reserves great credit for Berwick and the manner in which they conducted themselves over the two games. After all, it cannot have been easy for those concerned with the club to wave goodbye to so many years of history.
“The way Berwick were over both games was brilliant. I would have loved to have thought I’d conduct myself as professionally as they did, when you consider what was going on around them. Massive credit to them for how they went about stuff, on the day of both games.”
For Cove, the journey has continued inexorably upwards. They were named League 2 champions this year and their progress into the Scottish football pyramid looks set to continue.
Their support has continued to swell in the SPFL, which was arguably started by those two legs against Berwick.
“It was amazing to see that level of support in Berwick. I’d never seen that support at Cove. The fans that day gave not just the boys on the park a lift – everyone at the club felt proud. They were outstanding and have continued to be since then.
“It’s difficult to put into words because you still get emotional thinking about it. In terms of the time I’ve been in football, it’s by far the best day ever I’ve experienced. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work by lots of people. It was great to see it actually happen when not that long ago, we felt we were there and it didn’t happen for whatever reason. If things are meant to be, they’re meant to be.”