Shippy off the pace in season opener.
Defender Ross Lennie missed the match through injury.
The Shipyard paid the penalty as some poor decision making saw them kick off the season with a very disappointing 3-0 defeat to Dunipace in the League Cup at Recreation Park. It was a makeshift central defence that lined up for the Shippy with regular pairing Ross Lennie and Dean Anderson on the injury list and back up Pete Bell still on holiday.
The Shipyard almost got of to a dream start as Reece Brown latched onto a sloppy pass but the young striker’s effort hit the outside of the post with barely 10 seconds on the clock. The visitors took the lead in the 7th minute through a controversial penalty as firstly the player appeared to be offside and if there was contact in the challenge from Tom Graham, it was minimal. Nonetheless Barry Tulloch converted the kick confidently to give the visitors the lead. A tremendous Brown cross saw John Martin just fail to make contact as the ball fizzed across the box while at the other end Lee Munro blazed over from a very good position. Dunipace keeper David Kane pulled off a great save from a Martin drive after the striker was excellently picked out by Reece Bernard. Kane was in action again as he saved at the feet of Sam Glancy when the left back burst into the six-yard box. On the stroke of half-time Munro, in a crowded penalty area, prodded the loose ball against the post.
The Shippy made a double change at the break with two trialists replacing Reece Bernard and Reece Brown. The introduction of this pair saw the Shipyard get on the front foot and they looked the likelier team to score. However, that changed in the 54th minute with the home team being reduced to 10 men and in all honesty, they can have no complaints. Callum McAulay saw red for a very poor challenge on Chris Moulangou. A great jinking run from Jonny Galloway set up a chance for one of the trialist but he was unable to steer his attempt on target. The Shipyard were irate when the referee failed to show Tulloch a red card for an incident close to the touchline involving Glancy. The referee told a Shipyard official after the match that he felt Tulloch was not kicking his prone opponent hard enough to merit a red card and only showed a yellow to both players. Moulangou was now finding acres of space down the left-hand side and he doubled his side’s lead as he outpaced the Shipyard defence before finishing in style. He almost added a third minutes later but was denied by the post this time. Glancy delivered a quality free-kick into the box but no Shippy player could get that vital touch. Moulangou finished the match as a contest in the 83rd minute when his pace again got him in the clear and he netted with the aid of a deflection. In the closing stages Shipyard keeper Ryan Adamson denied Dunipace a fourth goal with a great fingertip save diving high to his left.
An unhappy Shipyard manager Grant Brough was quite blunt after the match as he simply said “We were not good enough.”
Musselburgh Athletic visit Recreation Park on Wednesday 1st August with the kick-off now 7pm and Preston Athletic are the visitors on Saturday 4th August with kick-off at 2.30pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: R. Adamson, R. O’Donnell, S. Glancy, T. Graham, S. Strang, C. Simpson, R. Bernard (B. Trialist), C. McAulay, J. Martin, Jon. Galloway, R. Brown (A. Trialist).
Unused Subs: Jor. Galloway, C. Trialist, D. Trialist.
Dunipace: D. Kane, C. Murphy, R. Shanks, T. Gordon, G. Dryden, D. Fitzpatrick, C. Moulangou, G. Wright, S. Dymock, B. Tulloch, L. Munro.
Subs: A. Stevenson, C. Martin, R. Balmer, E. Mitusch, R. Mack, K. Stevenson, D. McCafferty.
Referee: C. McNab.