Woodwork denies Shipyard
The Shipyard will have to replay this Scottish Cup 3rd round tie after drawing 0 – 0 at Braehead. Although the overhead conditions were great, the same could not be said of the pitch as there were large patched of ankle deep mud in the centre of the park and the rest of the pitch was sodden. New signing Kevin McCreadie took his place on the bench with the only change to the starting line up being Bryan Cook returning to replace the unavailable Owen McCue.
Braehead started strongly as expected and Andy Martin got down well to save at the feet of the inrushing forward. In the 4th minute he had to look lively to parry away a shot from around 10 yards as Braehead sought an early advantage. In the 11th minute Williams hit a free kick for the Shipyard that the keeper gathered at his near post. The Shipyard defence then afforded Braehead a free header from a corner, but it could not be directed on target. The Shipyard went close in the 18th minute when a shot from Hamilton had the keeper scrambling to his right to push the ball away. He then recovered quickly to block an attempt by Dow. A minute later Ferrier smashed an angled shot of the face of the bar from the corner of the six yard box. Two minutes after that the ball broke to Dow at the edge of the box, but his first time effort sailed over the bar. Braehead were forcing a lot of corner, however, they never really created a chance from them. On the stroke of half time Braehead squandered a great chance when, after steadying himself, the striker hit his shot against a defender which looped over the bar for a corner.
Braehead started the second half like they did the first, with Martin having to gather an early shot. A great through ball from Dow split the Braehead defence, but Ferrier just failed to reach it. Martin was called into action in the 48th minute, this time saving low to his right. Ferrier was causing the Braehead defence all sorts of problems and in the 51st minute he set off on a run that ended with his shot going just wide. Williams headed wide from a free kick before McCreadie made his debut replacing Russell. Braehead then had a spell on top with one of the centre backs shooting over from the edge of the box, then the same player saw a header from a corner hit the post, although a defender may well have cleared it if the ball was on target. The best chance of the match then fell to Paul Ferrier who received a pass inside the box from Dow and managed to find space to get away a shot. The ball hit the inside of the post and McCreadie was unable to direct the rebound on target. As the game went into the closing stages Braehead were pushing hard for what would surely be a winner and Martin again did well blocking with his knees when the forward bore down on him. Hamilton had the last chance for the Shipyard with five minutes left but his shot was straight at the keeper.
After the match manager Billy Whitehead said “Although they had more possession we missed the better chances. Ferrier’s shot that hit the bar almost lifted the goals off the ground. I was a bit disappointed with the pitch but it was the same for both teams and I am now looking forward to the replay next week”.
Burntisland Shipyard: A. Martin; McAndrew; Brough; Williams; Whyte; Wilson (C. Martin); Hamilton; Cook; Russell (McCreadie); Ferrier; Dow. Unused sub: Chalmers.
Referee: S. Gardner.