Disallowed goal proves crutial
The Shipyard were robbed of two points as the referee controversially ruled out what was a perfectly good goal and had to settle for a share of the spoils at Wallsgreen Park. Craig Russell rose to head the ball into the net from around twelve yards, however, the referee said she saw a push and disallowed the goal. Even the Bowhill players could not believe the decision. The only change to the Shipyard starting eleven from Tuesday saw Paul Wilson returning after injury.
The Shipyard were on top in the opening stages and pinned Bowhill back, forcing several corners. However, from a corner at the other end Bowhill took the lead when in attempting to clear the ball Tom Williams diverted the ball passed the helpless Andy Martin. Having previously been booked for allegedly diving in the box, Ferrier was tripped in the area and again went down. This looked like a penalty but play was waved on. After the disallowed goal in the 16th minute, Ferrier saw an effort cleared off the line in the next minute. Whyte surged forward for the Shipyard in the 26th minute and saw his shot parried by McFarlane in the Bowhill goals. The rebound fell to Grieve who saw his shot blocked. The Shipyard continued to press and dominate possession but Bowhill came closest in the 36th minute when Martin had to look sharp to tip over a Craig McGuinness free-kick. Ferrier blasted wide from a good position after Dow threaded a pass through to him. In stoppage time Patterson shot over from the edge of the box.
The Shipyard equalised twelve minutes into the second half when Paul Wilson received a pass and shot from the edge of the box. Although McFarlane got a hand to the ball he could not keep it out. The Shipyard were almost ahead two minutes later when Ferrier played in Dow and his first time angled drive bounced back off the post. As Wilson got on the end of the loose ball it appeared a Bowhill hand blocked the shot, but again no penalty was awarded. In the 69th Ferrier showed great skill on the edge of the Bowhill box and although he took a severe whack on the shin, which forced him off, he got his shot away, but could not angle it passed McFarlane. Again a penalty could have been given. In the 75th minute Hamilton head flicked on a corner, but it lacked the power to trouble the keeper. Bowhill had a strong appeal for a penalty when it appeared the player was tripped, however, he also found himself in the book for diving. The Shipyard had an escape in the 79th minute when Ritchie dallied in the box and missed the opportunity. The ball broke back to the edge of the area and the Shipyard were relieved to see the ball deflect for a corner. The following minute at the other end Wilson had a powerful shot held by McFarlane. In the 84th minute a scramble ensued in the Bowhill box as Shipyard players tried to get a vital touch and knock the ball home. Steven McAndrew did get his head to the ball and received a kick to the face for his troubles. Again the possibility of a penalty being given was ignored. The Shipyard were now down to ten men as all substitutes had been used and McAndrew was unable to continue. They still looked the more likely team to score, though with almost the last kick of the match Bowhill should have stolen it when Martin fumbled an innocuous looking shot and Hindley knocked it over the bar when it looked easier to score. After the match Billy Whitehead said “We played well enough to win the match comfortably and I still can’t believe that goal was disallowed. We had two or three good penalty claims too, but it was not to be our day”.
Teams: Bowhill Rovers: McFarlane; Comrie; C. McGuinness; Oliver; Kirkham; Gay; Doyle; Wright; Paterson; Byrne; Ritchie. Subs: Hindley; Ventors; S. McGuinness.
Burntisland Shipyard: Martin; Grieve (McCue); Brough; Williams; Whyte; Russell; Hamilton; Gray (McAndrew); Ferrier (Tasker); Wilson; Dow.
Referee: E. Cunningham.