The Shipyard gained a moral boosting win against Inverkeithing, before the next two weeks senior cup competition ties, at a windy Recreation park. Cook and Johnston returned from injury but, Grieve although listed as a substitute, joined McAndrew and Johnstone on the injury list. Although the margin of victory was only one goal, a missed penalty and some good opportunities in the first half, could have seen the Shipyard out of sight. A poorer second half and the sending off of Mark Hamilton gave Inverkeithing hope that they could have taken something from the game.
Playing against the wind the Shipyard took the lead after only 4 minutes when Owen McCue curled a fantastic free-kick into the net from 22 yards. In the 10th minute the ball broke to Hamilton at the edge of the box and his fierce shot was well saved by Wilson in the Inverkeithing goal. From the resultant corner J. Williams was fouled in the box and the referee awarded the Shipyard a penalty, though Inverkeithing felt he had been fouled by one of his own team mates. Neil Ferguson took the kick but after sending the keeper the wrong way put his shot wide of the post. The Shipyard were in total control of the match and Cook was next to go close when he headed over from a corner. Inverkeithing were on level terms after 30 minutes when in their first real attack the shipyard defence left the Inverkeithing forward all alone to receive a pass from the right and he swept the ball into the net with Chalmers helpless. The Shipyard were back in front almost immediately when they were awarded another penalty after Johnston was brought down in the box. This time Owen McCue stepped up and coolly stroked the ball home. McCue was now looking for his hat-trick and almost got it in the 36th minute, when after a good run his shot was just wide of the goal.
Inverkeithing started the second half much better and went close when a corner from the right was headed over. They did equalise after an hour when the Shipyard could not clear the ball from their own 6 yard box, the ball broke to the Inverkeithing player who slammed the ball into the net. Whyte had a long range shot for the Shipyard that was straight at the keeper, before the Shipyard regained the lead on 70 minutes. Substitute Henderson’s cross was miss-judged by the Inverkeithing keeper allowing Neil Johnston to gather the ball and take it round the keeper before shooting home from a tight angle. A cross from the Inverkeithing right hit the top of the Shipyard bar and went over, then the Shipyard were reduced to 10 men when Hamilton was sent off for aiming a kick at his opponent, though it was a bit unfair that the Inverkeithing player went unpunished. The Shipyard did not look like losing their lead, in fact Whyte almost scored in the last minute when he won a tackle in midfield, drove forward but saw his shot saved by Wilson.
Teams: Burntisland Shipyard: Chalmers; Ferguson; Whyte; T. Williams; Cook; Tasker(Bell); McCue; Hamilton; Johnston; J. Williams; Drummond(Henderson). Unused Subs: Muirhead; Grieve.
Inverkeithing H.S: Wilson; P. Thomson; Stewart; Morris; Tarvit; Ballie; T. Fraser; Summins; Gordon; Brechin; Ritchie. Subs: Jamieson; Urbaniak; C. Fraser; Brown; R. Thomson.
Referee: D. Campbell.