Hendo heads Shippy to victory.
The Shipyard got their season off to a winning start with a single goal victory over Civil Service Strollers at a windswept Recreation Park. After all the recent good weather it was like a winter’s day with a strong easterly wind with the odd heavy shower thrown in. Myles stuck with the same eleven that had started the midweek friendly against Bathgate and also had the same subs from the 2-2 draw.
It was premier league Strollers who started the better side and Jordan Mushet in the Shipyard goals had to get down low to push away a driven shot in the 12th minute. From the resultant corner Steven Moncur missed a decent chance when he was afforded a free header at the back post. The same man missed the target again with a similar opportunity a minute later, though this was a more difficult chance. With the wind behind them the visitors had plenty of possession and created another chance in the 24th minute but again Mushet was equal to the task as he saved from Keiran McGachie. The Shipyard started to get into the match just after the half hour mark and Dale Robertson saw a shot deflected wide in the 34th minute. Three minutes later the homesters took the lead when a Craig Lowe cross found the head of Ewan Henderson and his header took a slight deflection off his marker leaving Stuart Burnside helpless in the Strollers goal.
The second half was a different story as the Shipyard had the wind behind them and when Henderson was played through Burnside did well to block his shot with his legs. Robertson saw an angled drive drift wide of the far post as the hosts looked the more likely to score though Strollers replied with Chris Moffat heading over from a good position. The visitors were enjoying more of the ball now but Mushet was never really tested as the Shipyard seemed more than capable of dealing with what the Strollers had to offer. Substitute Billy Rogerson could have sealed it in the last couple of minutes for the Shipyard but again Burnside was able to block the shot with his legs.
Myles was happy with the win and full of praise for his players when he said after the match “It wasn’t likely to be a classic due to the conditions but our guys did what needed to be done. I’d have been happy enough going in level at half time due to the wind but was delighted that we got a goal when we did. We defended very well and I think they only had a couple of shots on target. I don’t think we played great in the second half and Civil had the greater possession and territory but I don’t think Jordan had a save of note to make. On the other hand, their keeper made good saves from Ewan and Billy to stop us putting the game to bed. Overall, I’m happy enough to grind out an ugly win against a team from the division above us. That’s something that we’ve not always been able to do in the past and is hopefully a sign of the improvement within the squad”.
Looking ahead to the match at Ainslie Park in midweek Myles said “We’ve now got an even harder match on Tuesday night at Spartans. We know each other reasonably well given we played them in a friendly a couple of weeks back. Once again we will be the underdog but if we can add a bit of quality to today’s work rate then we might have a chance of causing a shock”.
Burntisland Shipyard: J. Mushet; P. Bell; E. Anderson; B. Smart; A. MacDonald; C. Samson; S. Keatings (B. Rogerson); C. Lowe; E. Henderson (K. Buckley); D. Robertson; JP. McPhail (K. Masson). Unused Subs: C. McManus & T. Arthur.
Referee: B. Cooper.