Galloway goal gives Shipyard win.

The Shipyard didn’t let the loss of four regular starters bother them, as those who came into the team in place of them proved to be more than ample replacements, indeed, all of them playing vital roles in securing the 1-0 win over Dundonald Bluebell, in the League Cup at Recreation Park on Saturday. Sure, the Shippy rode their luck at times as the Bluebell dominated for spells and created chances, however, Scott Costello and his back four were resolute in defence with Costy pulling off some great saves with the defenders giving their opponent no time or space to get their attempts on target. When a great opportunity came the Shipyard’s way Jordan Galloway made no mistake as he lashed the ball home. Craig Watt, Darrell Anthony, Sam Glancy and Jack Wilson were all absent and they were replaced by Ryan O’Donnell, Mark James, Dan Thomson and Sandy Strang. Galloway then had to replace the unlucky Shaun Keating with only 13 minutes on the clock with the winger picking up a hamstring injury.

Dundonald created a good opportunity in the 7^th minute when the ball was squared to Paul McManus and although the striker may have done better, Costello still made a good save to deny him. The visitors continued to hold the upper hand as they dominated possession, however, the quality in delivery was not there with their manager not slow in letting his players know about it. Most of the danger came from set piece deliveries into the box and any attempts were mainly headers that never troubled Costello.

Half-time substitute Barry Sibanda broke clear of the Shippy defence in the 59^th minute but he was thwarted by the boot of Costello. A free-kick played into the Dundonald box created havoc, however, the ball would not drop kindly for a Shippy player to get an effort at goal. At the other end Dundonald almost broke the deadlock when Ross Drummond smashed the ball off the underside of the bar with the Shippy defence clearing the danger. The Shipyard stunned Bluebell when they took the lead in the 70^th minute through Galloway. Ben Anthony did superbly to hold the ball up when he was denied space to get a strike away and when the ball was played to Galloway his perfectly placed shot gave Bluebell keeper James Lennox no chance, much to the delight of the home crowd. The visitors were getting more frustrated and none more so when they had a “goal” disallowed by the referee for offside. Anthony then needlessly got himself sent off as he received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away, for the second time in the game, leaving his team to play out the final minutes a man short. He had keeper Costello to thank as the big keeper pulled off an unbelievable save in the 93^rd minute. When the ball fell to Lewis McKenzie, he looked certain to score but he could only look on in disbelieve as Costy reactively stuck out his left arm and pushed the ball away to safety. It truly was an outstanding save.

Manager Dave Costello was naturally delighted though he wasn’t getting carried away when he spoke after the match saying “I am extremely proud of my players today. To a man they all played their part with Mark James and Ryan O’Donnell in particular doing well given the lack of game time they have had recently. We have to be realistic though, we won against the run of play, that being said, my players did what they were asked to do and restricted Dundonald in terms of clear-cut chances and big Scott came up with the saves when asked to do so.” He went on to add “The only disappointment for me today was Benji picking up a needless red card, though thankfully it never came back to bite us.”

Currently we have no scheduled match until Glenrothes visit Recreation Park for a League match on Saturday 16^th April 2022.

Burntisland Shipyard: S. Costello; L. Ross; R. O’Donnell; M. James; I. Millar; S. Orrock (M. Miller); S. Keatings (J. Galloway); S. Strang; B. Anthony; D. Thomson; S. Walton. Unused Subs: L. Mahady & R. Connor.

Dundonald Bluebell: J. Lennox; S. Durie; A. Hendry; C. Wilson; B. Rogerson; L. McKenzie; P. McManus; R. Drummond; S. Husband; D. Ormiston; J. Mackie. Subs: B. Sibanda; S. Gilfillan; K. Fotheringham; K. Dall; L. Johnstone; D. Fleming.

Referee: A. Budd.