Determined Shipyard battle through
The Shipyard battled through this Scottish Cup 3rd round replay against Braehead at Recreation Park. Despite being put under intense pressure for spells in the match, two chances were taken and the referee also turned down two very strong penalty claims, that might have made things easier for the Shipyard, had one or both been given. Andy Martin in the Shipyard goals also did his bit for the cause with two particularly impressive saves. The Shipyard starting line up showed one change from last week, with Kevin McCreadie starting in place of the injured Paul Wilson. The returning Owen McCue took a place on the bench.
Braehead started strongly again this week and Martin had to get down at his near post and gather the ball after an angled shot from the right hand side. The Shipyard responded immediately and after good work from McCreadie, Dow saw his shot well saved by Harrow in the Braehead goals. McCreadie was making his presence felt and it took a last ditch tackle to prevent him getting a shot at goal. The Shipyard broke the deadlock in the 19th minute when indecision in the Braehead defence allowed Steven Dow to force the ball home from around 8 yards. Braehead were galvanised by the loss of the goal and thought they had equalised in the 21st minute when firstly, Martin touched the ball onto the bar. In gathering the follow up shot the referee deemed that Martin had been fouled and waved away Braehead’s claim for the goal, if the ball had crossed the line. In the 27th minute Robertson had a great chance to score when he found himself all alone in the box, however, Martin stood tall and was able to push the shot away. Three minutes later McKenzie had a shot from just inside the box, but it was hit high over the bar. Ferrier burst clear of the Braehead defence in the 31st minute, but when through on the keeper his shot was poor and easily gathered. Martin was commanding his box well and came out to the edge to gather a dangerous through ball in the 33rd minute. The Shipyard then had a massive shout for a penalty when it appeared Ferrier was tripped in the box when he burst past the defender, however, the referee deemed that if there was any contact it was minimal. The last chance of the first half fell to Braehead, only for McKenzie to head wide from a good position.
In the 49th minute McCreadie headed wide from a good McAndrew cross. Just before the hour Martin saved comfortably at his near post before Braehead had a great chance to draw level. Scotland only had Martin to beat but unfortunately for him he could not muster any power in his shot and Martin held it easily. Cook was replaced just after the hour mark by McCue after the knock he took to the ribs proved too much for him to continue anymore. A ball into the box saw McCreadie slip as he took possession and he could not regain his feet and get a shot away. A cross from Dow in the 71st minute saw Harrow tip the ball over the bar as the Shipyard forwards waited for any slip up. The play was swinging back and forth and it was Braehead’s turn next to have a chance. This time the long range effort was gathered by Martin at the second attempt. The game took a huge twist in the 76th minute when Ferrier got away from the Braehead defence, only to be cynically brought down by Alexander as he raced in on goal. The referee correctly showed Alexander the red card but, much to the Shipyard players and supporters astonishment, only gave a free kick outside the box, though photographic evidence indicated that the offence was indeed inside the box. From the resultant free kick Harrow tipped Williams’ powerful shot over for a corner. Dow then saw a shot from the edge of the box held before Martin pulled off an amazing save. A cross to the back post found the Braehead player all alone at the back post and he seemed certain to score until Andy Martin somehow managed to claw the ball away with the Braehead player’s ready to acclaim the goal. McCreadie saw a fierce shot deflected over for a corner, then in the 88th minute the shipyard tied it up when Paul Ferrier latched on to a loose header, strode forward and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.
Billy Whitehead was naturally delighted after the game and said “I knew we would be up against it today and that proved to be the case. Braehead are a good side and had long spells of pressure like last week and created a few chances. However, we defended well and Andy made a couple of good saves. Today we were able to convert a couple of the chances that came our way, as I felt we would”.
Teams: Burntisland Shipyard: A. Martin; McAndrew; Brough (C. Martin); Williams; Whyte; Dow; Hamilton; Cook (McCue); Russell; Ferrier; McCreadie. Unused Subs: Grieve; Chalmers.
Braehead: Harrow; Cunningham; Wheater; Alexander; McLean; Scotland; Robertson; Henderson; McKenzie; Haney; Gardiner. Subs: Skinner; McFarlane; Young.
Referee: S. Gardner.