Lock stock and four smoking barrels.
Caretaker manager James Lock got the perfect start to his tenure in charge as his side cruised to a 4-0 win over Hawick at Albert Park. In a match packed with incident both teams were reduced to 10 men and the Shipyard even had the luxury of a missed penalty as Brendan Napier saw his kick saved by keeper Jordan Dunsmore just before half-time with the score at 1-0. With three players having left the club and three players unavailable the Shipyard travelled with a thinner but still strong squad to the borders. Blair Smart, Pete Bell, Dale Robertson and Adam Doig returned to the starting eleven after last week’s horror show at Peebles.
The Shipyard were on the attack from the word go and a Shaun Keatings ball into the box had Dunsmore scrambling to thwart Kevin Masson as he looked to get onto the ball. A Hawick corner flashed across the Shipyard six yard line were a touch would likely have given the home team the lead. It was the Shipyard who took the lead in the 7th minute when Napier played a delightful ball to Ewan Henderson who rounded the keeper and rolled the ball into the net. Henderson would prove to be a thorn in the Albert’s side the whole afternoon as he turned in a fine performance. A long thrown into the Shipyard box had to be hooked clear by Bell before the portly Nick Ramsay headed wide for the homesters. A Robertson corner had the Hawick defence under pressure before the ball was cleared and at the other end Jordan Mushet had to be on his toes to save from N. Ramsay as possession was conceded far too easily. Mushet then pushed away a headed effort from Andrew Noble as Hawick searched for an equaliser. The Shipyard almost scored a freak second when an innocuous ball way beyond the back post was headed across the face of goal by Keatings and the ball hit the base of the post before being booted clear. The match had been simmering away as the referee tried to keep a lid on it but in the 37th minute it exploded when the Shipyard’s Masson received a straight red card for a poor challenge in the middle of the park. In the 41st minute Hawick were almost level but Mushet was able to get fingertips to a fierce free-kick, tip it onto the bar and then gather the loose ball. The game took another twist on the stroke of half-time when Keatings burst into Hawick area and was crudely challenged by Sean Loughlin. The Hawick player was only receiving a yellow card but his reaction to the decision saw him earn a second yellow and an early bath. Disappointingly for the Shipyard Napier’s spot kick was easily saved by Dunsmore.
If the Shipyard players were affected by the spot kick miss it did not take them long to forget about it as they doubled their lead in the first minute of the second half. Henderson gathered a pass at the corner of the Hawick area, found himself a bit of space and fired a great shot across the keeper and into the top corner. Hawick tried to get back into the match immediately and Mushet pulled of similar saves in the space of a minute by tipping strikes from Greg Summers and Ronald Fleming over the bar. Dunsmore then pulled off a great save from Doig as he dived full stretch to push the ball away. In the 53rd minute the visitors went three ahead when Bell overlapped down the right wing and his excellent cross was turned into his own net by Shaun Fallon as he desperately tried to stop the ball from reaching the Shipyard forwards. Still Hawick kept at it and Mushet did well to block a shot with his legs. Henderson was giving the Albert defence a torrid time and Dunsmore was able to tip his driven shot onto the bar. A minute later the keeper foiled the big striker again as he smothered his left foot strike. Mushet punched clear under pressure at a corner and Smart headed away a dangerous cross as the Shipyard players seemed determined to keep a clean sheet. The Shipyard then scored the perfect breakaway goal as the ball was moved from their own area to the other end in seconds and substitute Craig Lowe finished the move off from ten yards after good build up play between Keatings and Henderson. Mushet saved well from a lobbed G. Ramsay effort and at the other end Dunsmore did equally well in denying Bell after he was set up by sub Daniel Watt. The Shipyard comfortably saw out the remaining minutes to finish a turbulent week on a high with a well deserved victory and a clean sheet to boot.
After the match James gave his verdict on the proceedings when he said “I’m really pleased with the performance today. It’s always a cliché to talk about the character of a team but that is exactly what I was looking for from the lads and they did themselves proud against a competitive and physical Hawick side. To keep a clean sheet too I’m particularly pleased with. Lee and I only had one session to get some new ideas across so there is plenty more to come from the boys. Going forward we’ll be looking for another step up in effort this week as we prepare for a very difficult game against Spartans”.
Hawick Royal Albert: J. Dunsmore; I. Zenati; G. Shillinglaw; S. Loughlin; S. Fallan; G. Summers ( C. McLeod); A. Noble ( C. Muttitt); R. Fleming; N. Ramsay; G. Ramsay; P. Brown ( K. McCulloch). Unused Subs: M. McFerrin & S. Russell.
Burntisland Shipyard: J. Mushet; C. Samson; P. Bell; A. MacDonald; B. Smart; B. Napier; K. Masson; D. Robertson; A. Doig ( D. Watt); E. Henderson ( C. Lowe); S. Keatings ( E. Anderson).
Referee: S. MacLean.