Strathspey Thistle 1 Burntisland Shipyard 3.
The Shipyard enjoyed their day out up north as a Doigy hat-trick ensured a comfortable win in this friendly match over Highland League side Strathspey Thistle in the picturesque town of Grantown on Spey. Although billed as a friendly the referee had his work cut out on occasions as tempers frayed and indeed he had to show a red card to Strathspey’s Martin Groat after he kicked out at Pete Bell.
Myles travelled north with a slightly depleted squad though he was able to list five substitutes with the evergreen Jason McCrindle taking a place on the bench. The Shipyard took the lead in the 18th minute when Brendan Napier split the home defence with a fine pass and his brother-in –law Adam Doig showed fine composure to lob the ball over the advancing keeper. A second Shipyard goal arrived in the 36th minute and again it was Doig who scored, this time from close range after a Ewan Henderson cross had been laid into his path by new signing Shaun Keatings. Strathspey were not out of the match though they failed to trouble Jordan Mushet in the visitor’s goal as all the efforts they had were from distance and off target.
The homesters got back into the match in the 49th minute when a good strike from Jack Maley found the bottom corner from around 22yards. Thistles good work was undone a few minutes later when Groat needlessly lashed out after he had been fouled by Bell. After a bit of handbags, Groat was red carded and Bell was cautioned for his part in the incident. The Shipyard sealed their win in the 61st minute when after a quickly taken free-kick Doig expertly flicked home Joe Samson’s cross to complete his first hat-trick for the club.
Myles was very happy after the match when he summed up proceedings by saying “Once again, the score line is the least important aspect of a pre-season friendly. Obviously it’s nice to win, but the performance and fitness are more important. We had quite a few guys unavailable today and tried a new formation which we hadn’t really worked on. Because Strathspey sat so deep we saw a lot of the ball and dominated possession, especially in the first half. We could maybe have moved the ball a bit quicker at times but any criticism of the players today would be unfair and a bit pedantic.
Overall, it was a very worthwhile trip. We put in an excellent performance, the facilities were very good, the opposition were very hospitable and the guys enjoyed a few beers on the way home”.
Burntisland Shipyard: J. Mushet; B. Rogerson (J. Fyfe); P. Bell; C. McManus (J. McCrindle); B. Napier; JP McPhail; S. Keatings (J. Crombie); E. Henderson (K. Buckley); A. Doig (D. Watt) C. Samson.