Replay required after Scottish Cup stalemate.
The Shipyard and Dalkeith will have to do it all again next week after the teams drew 1-1 in front of a great crowd at Recreation Park. It was so pleasing for everyone at the club to see so many people from the town come out and support the team. The tie will be replayed next week at Kings Park Stadium with the winners facing Clydebank in the next round on Saturday 18th September. Ben Anthony opened the scoring for Shippy early on with Ross Aitchison equalising for the Jags after 21 minutes. Despite the best efforts of both teams neither could force a winner with both keepers making crucial saves and at the end of the day it was probably a fair result.
Shippy manager Dave Costello was forced into making three changes from last week with Mark James, Sam Glancy and Craig Watt all unavailable, Cammy Shaw, Scott Orrock and Nathan Feeley came in to replace them in the starting eleven.
Shipyard started on the front foot with Shaun Keatings driving forward before shooting just wide. The home team took the lead in the sixth minute when B. Anthony broke clear, he rounded the advancing keeper and slotted the ball home despite the best efforts of the Jags defence to block his strike. Matty Miller was in the right place to head clear following a corner before Thistle drew level on 21 minutes. A deep ball was played to the back post and Aitchison ghosted in to knock the ball home with a composed finish. The visitors started to dominate the game and went close in the 34th minute with Jack Morgan and Josh Davidson both having shots blocked and four minutes later Morgan saw Shippy keeper Scott Costello get a slight touch on his angled drive diverting it for a corner.
Shipyard spurned a great chance on the hour mark when Orrock got down the left-hand side and squared for Feeley, however, the striker saw his attempt blocked and Keatings was flagged offside as he attempted to bundle the ball over the line. Dalkeith thought they had taken the lead when Costello spilled the ball following a fierce strike but they were denied by the offside flag too. Jack Wilson saw his shot drift wide and Feeley was thwarted by a brave block from Jags keeper Shea Dowie. In the closing minutes Costello pulled off a great save from a Greig Callaghan drive and at the other end Shippy sub-Jordan Galloway saw his shot blocked by a defender with the keeper beaten. Shipyard nerves were jangling as Dalkeith forced a corner with time almost up, however, the defence stood firm and subsequently, we will have to do it all again next week. Shippy manager Costello said after the game “We had chances to win it as did Dalkeith and both keepers made good saves. I should have Jamesy, Rooney and Sam back for next week which will give me more options if I want to make changes. Once again, I thought big Milzy was outstanding, winning everything both in the air and on the ground, in what was a dominant performance.”
Burntisland Shipyard: S. Costello; M. Miller; C. Shaw (C. McManus); R. O’Donnell; I. Millar; S. Orrock; S. Keatings; D. Anthony; B. Anthony; N. Feeley (J. Galloway); J. Wilson. Unused Subs: S. Strang; JP. McPhail; M. Gibb.
Dalkeith Thistle: S. Dowie; M. Johnston; R. Aitchison; S. Woods; G. Callaghan; J. Burrows; D. Leslie (J. Mackie); D. Muir; J. Davidson (R. Weston); J. Morgan; C. Bielski (D. McTernan). Unused Subs: K. Giese; S. Walker; J. Grandison; C. Miller; J. McAlpine.
Referee: R. Lee.