Late late show as Shippy come from behind to snatch win.
Raymond Drury was delighted to come away with three points as his Shipyard side kept their unbeaten run going under his stewardship. Although his team left it late to grab the win, he felt it was merited on the back of a strong second half performance.
Gaffer Drury said “In the first half it showed we hadn’t had a game for a while as we didn’t get the ball passed quickly enough and although Spartans had most of the ball they didn’t really threaten, apart from the goal, as Jordan Mushet didn’t have a save to make in the first half. In the second half we changed the formation and straight away we started playing a lot better, creating openings and looking more threatening”. Drury went on to praise the match winner as he added “It was good to see Kev Masson back in the team and he showed how important he is to the squad with his two goals. I must praise all the boys for a good second half performance and may that continue in the weeks and months ahead”.
Match winner Masson was happy after the match too when he cheekily quipped “I’ve missed half the matches but that’s me seven goals ahead of the nearest challenger. Hopefully I can get a good run of games under my belt now and continue to score goals”.
Two goal hero Kev Masson
Spartans had taken the lead in the 16th minute and although their pressure probably merited it, the goal when it came had a touch of good fortune about it as the ball broke very kindly to Blair Atkison who calmly beat Mushet from nine yards out. A drive from 22 yards by Mark James that was pushed away by Spartans keeper Daniel Cassells was all that the Shipyard could muster during the opening period as the home team continued to dominate possession without creating much in the way of clear cut chances.
The start of the second half saw Stephen Stark make his debut as he replaced the injured Adam Doig and his pace and enthusiasm seemed to lift the Shippy as they enjoyed more of the ball. A misdirected Craig Lowe cross had to be touched over by Cassells while at the other end Mushet saved with his legs at the near post from Spartans Ian Thomson. The Shipyard were then forced into a reshuffle as Graeme Haywood also came off injured and he was replaced by Scott Devaney. Spartans might have doubled their lead in the 62nd minute when their player headed over from a decent position with Mushet rooted to the spot. Masson replaced Ewan Henderson in the 65th minute and almost made a quick impact when his free-kick strike from twenty yards was disallowed as the referee adjudged that JP McPhail was standing in an offside position and interfering with play. A minute later in the 72nd minute it was the turn of the home team to create an opportunity and the Shippy defence was happy to see the ball drift wide of the far post. The Shipyard drew level in the 81st minute when Ben Couper headed a corner back across goal and Masson was on hand to volley the ball home from around 12 yards. With the match looking like it was heading for a draw there was a sensational finale to the match when in the 93rd minute McPhail rose to gather a ball just inside the Spartans area and was absolutely flattened by keeper Cassells as he came out to try and punch the ball clear. A stonewall penalty if ever there was one. After the dust had settled and McPhail was helped from the field, that man Masson stepped up to lash the ball home to seal the win and that was the last kick of the match as referee Paul Hanlon blew for full time, much to the delight of the Shipyard contingent.
Spartans EOS. D. Cassells; K. Boyes; P. Dickson; I. Thomson; D. O’Donnell; K. Wilson (A. Imlah); R. Gray (M. Simpson); B. Raiker (J. Grant); C. Anderson; S. Stewart; B. Atkison. Unused Sub: G. Rossi.
Burntisland Shipyard: J. Mushet; G. McCann; B. Couper; A. MacDonald; G. Haywood (S. Devaney); P. Bell; C. Lowe; M. James; E. Henderson (K. Masson); JP McPhail; A. Doig (S. Stark). Unused Subs: D. Anthony & B. Saunders.
Referee: P. Hanlon.