Shippy edged out in tight encounter.
The Shipyard fell to a narrow defeat against high flying Kinnoull at Recreation Park on Saturday. In what was a keenly fought contest there was nothing much to separate the sides and it could have gone either way, with the Shippy particularly rueing a golden chance seconds before the visitors took the lead for the second time. The Shipyard were missing unavailable centre backs Iain Millar and Ryan O’Donnell along with the injured Craig Watt and Mark James which meant another makeshift defence constructed by manager Dave Costello. Jack Wilson and Lewis Ross were the men who formed the central pairing. There was a debut off the bench for loanee Rhys Wardlaw, son of Shipyard legend Gareth.
The visitors took the lead inside two minutes when Kyle Woolley lost his man at a corner and his near post attempt found the net despite the best efforts of the Shippy defence to keep the ball out. Kieran Donald might have done better when he blasted over from a decent position in the ninth minute as Kinnoull had the edge in the opening stages. A fine ball from Cammy Lewis created an opening for Nathan Feeley, however, his shot lacked the power to trouble Kinnoull keeper Jordi Duncan. Costello was getting frustrated as play always seemed to break down as the ball was moved into the final third. He was happier when his team equalised in the 31st minute when Ben Anthony smashed home an unstoppable drive from around fourteen yards. The Shipyard defence was under pressure three minutes later as they struggled to clear the ball and it was only when it reached the edge of the box that the pressure eased when the ball was blasted well over the bar.
The Shippy could or perhaps should have been ahead in the 51st minute when Lewis and Feeley combined again and it looked like the latter was certain to score but he delayed his shot with the ball ending up in the keeper’s arms. There was a half-hearted appeal for a penalty, however, the defender who slid in was merely trying to block an anticipated shot. To rub salt into the wound Kinnoull went straight up the park and regained the lead when Mark Smith scored with a shot from inside the box. Shaun Keatings delivered an excellent free kick towards the back post but the headed attempt lacked the quality of the delivery. Another free kick, this time from Wilson, went narrowly over the bar as the Shippy pressed. Scott Costello had to be on his toes as he saved a close range strike as Kinnoull looked to stretch their lead. Benji saw his effort easily gathered by Duncan with around ten minutes remaining but the Shippy seemed to run out of ideas as Kinnoull held firm in the closing minutes and they looked to counter given the opportunity.
Manager Costello was unimpressed after the game and said “I was disappointed with our performance today although I thought that inconsistent refereeing didn’t help our cause. I really can’t say much more than that.”
Next week we make the short trip to face Kirkcaldy and Dysart at Alex Penman Park. Kick-off in Kirkcaldy is at 2.30pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: S. Costello; L. Bell; R. Crichton (D. Thomson); L. Ross; J. Wilson; S. Orrock (A. Brown); S. Keatings; D. Anthony (S. Glancy); B. Anthony; C. Lewis (J. Galloway); N. Feeley (R. Wardlaw). Unused Sub: R. Connor.
Kinnoull: J. Duncan; K. Woolley; L. Woolley; A. Frydrychouz; C. Scott; C. Robertson; P. Brown; J. MacKenzie; B. Ragan; K. Donald; M. Smith. Subs: R. Jenkins; R. Cameron; R. Antoniewicz; S. Fergus; T. McCluskey; F. Morrison; A. Philips.
Referee: J. Kelly.