Momentary defensive frailty costs Shipyard
With keeper Jordan Mushet still recovering from last week’s injury, Shipyard called up 18 year old Quinn Franklin to take over in goals against league leaders Peebles Rovers. Kevin Masson returned to the side after last week’s absence and 17-year old Ross Watt took his place on the bench.
There were early exchanges at both ends with Sutherland for Peebles just failing to direct his headed effort on target and Shaun Keatings and Ewan Henderson just failing to make the break-through for Shipyard. Peebles took the lead in the 18th minute when Flockart latched on to a long ball through the flat Shipyard defence and his shot entering off Franklin’s right hand post gave the keeper no chance. In the 26 minute Brendan Napier was involved in a freak incident when he was rendered momentarily unconscious when he fell onto a rising Peebles boot. He was unable to continue and the Shipyard were forced into a reshuffle with defender Alan Clark coming on and Craig Lowe moving into the midfield. In 36 minutes, some great work by Masson on the left set up a chance for Dale Robertson but the Peebles defence just managed to clear the danger. The play swung both ways and there was little to indicate which side were league leaders. The first half came to an end with good pressure form Shipyard with Ethan Anderson shooting over and a Keating’s free kick forcing Murray into action.
Peebles’ Rossi replaced Walker at half time. Franklin was called in to action early in the second half as he was forced to hold a high cross under pressure. As the game continued to flow from end to end, Henderson collected from a Peebles corner and his 60 yard burst into the heart of the Peebles area was only halted by a desperate tackle by Murray who was cautioned for his actions. In the 64th minute, a Peebles corner from the right found Richardson completely free but he failed to direct his header on target and the chance was lost. Two minutes later came the most controversial moment in the match. Under pressure from the keeper and two defenders, Masson was up-ended in the box. Strong claims for a penalty were waved away by the referee. Watt came on for Anderson with just over quarter of the game to go. His first touch put Masson clear but the referee adjudged him offside and the chance was lost. The Shipyard continued to press for the equaliser with a Clark shot beating the keeper but just grazing the top of the bar. The final minutes saw Peebles play out the time and Andy MacDonald was booked for showing some dissent.
After the match Shipyard manager Alex Lowe bemoaned his side’s misfortune when he said “I don’t want to keep on making excuses but we deserved at least a draw against league leaders, in a close fought, dour game. Areas of the game which we can certainly do better on were our passing and deliveries from wide areas. The number of clear cut chances created by both teams were low and we struggled to break down an organised and disciplined Peebles back line. The game may have ended in a draw had the referee not denied us an absolute stonewall penalty in the last few minutes of the game. We also defended well apart from one lapse which lead to the Peebles goal and young Quinn in goal dealt comfortably with everything thrown at him. The loss of Brendan Napier after 20 minutes also meant one of our more creative players missed the bulk of the game. We have been a bit unlucky the last two weeks and if we continue to apply the same effort I am sure our fortunes will change in the coming weeks.
Burntisland Shipyard: Q. Franklin; P. Bell; E. Anderson (R. Watt); T. Arthur; A. MacDonald; C. Lowe; B. Napier (A. Clark); D. Robertson; E. Henderson; K. Masson; S. Keatings. Unused Sub: JP. McPhail.
Referee: R. Thomson.