Honours even in hard-fought derby.
The Shipyard and Oakley had to settle for a point apiece following a 1-1 draw at Recreation Park on Saturday, and once the dust had settled neither team will be too disappointed with the outcome. The Shippy may have felt that they should have capitalised on the extra man they had for the final 35 minutes following a red card for United defender Sean Preston, however, the visitors didn’t offer up too many chances and held on reasonably comfortably for their point. Youngster Finlay Russell was in goals again and he can be extremely proud of his performance as he turned in a display that was assured and confident and belied his tender years. Mark James, Tony McAndrew, Ben Anthony along with Russell came into the team replacing Ryan Couser, Kearyn Hicks, Dan McBay and Conor Schiavone.
Russell was sharp off his line in the 4th minute to thwart any danger, however, the keeper was beaten a minute later when the Shipyard defence failed to deal with a ball crossed into the box and Scott Bruce slammed the ball home to give Oakley an early lead. The Shippy spurned a great chance to draw level when Kris Murphy and Michael Gibb combined to set up B. Anthony but Oakley keeper Blair Gallacher blocked the close-range effort with an outstretched leg. The equaliser in the 20th minute with a well-worked goal. Darrell Anthony played a great ball out wide to his brother Ben and when the latter’s cross came in Murphy was on hand to knock the ball past Gallacher from around six yards. Russell made a good save just a minute after the goal and he was even more impressive with a double save in the 35th minute when he initially saved with his leg and then leapt acrobatically to push the ball away at the expense of a corner. Gibb shot straight at the keeper from a good position in the 42nd minute and Blair Kerr was blocked by a last-ditch tackle as he was about to pull the trigger as the first half moved into added time.
Russell held a shot from Oakley fullback Reece Strachan before Murphy had the ball in the net again only for it to be ruled offside, though it may have been B. Anthony who was penalised. A major flashpoint occurred in the 55th minute when B. Anthony and Preston clashed near the touchline with a bit of pushing and shoving before the United player seemed to headbutt Anthony. The referee showed Preston a red card and cautioned the Shippy man for his part in the altercation. A Kerr freekick looked destined for the bottom corner until Gallacher, at full stretch, pushed the ball away to safety. At the other end Russell leapt to palm away a headed attempt following a freekick played into the Shipyard box.
Manager Lee Richardson said after the match “We didn’t put them under enough pressure when we had the extra man. We probably created more when it was eleven aside. Nonetheless, it was a much-improved performance after last week’s disappointment. We defended much better today and young Finlay was outstanding in goal.”
Next week we are on Scottish Cup duty as we welcome Dunipace to Burntisland. Kick-off time for this one is at 3.00pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: F. Russell; D. Brockie; K. Crielly; E. Bauld; M. James (K. Ritchie); D. Anthony; A. McAndrew (J. Galloway); B. Kerr; K. Murphy (L. Taylor); B. Anthony; M. Gibb. Unused Subs: C. McBay; D. McBay; C. Lewis; E. McQuade.
Oakley United: B. Gallacher; A. Gallacher; R. Strachan; S. Preston; B. McAdam; A. Wilson; C. MacDonald; T. Simpson; R. Cowie; A. Penman; S. Bruce. Subs: L. Dawson; J. Irvine; D. O’Hara; D. Murray; L. Cairns; R. Yapoudjian; S. Mackinnon.
Referee: S. Gray.