Wilson double eases Shipyard to victory
The Shipyard ended their home season with a deserved 3 – 1 victory over Lumphinnans at Recreation Park and in the process leapfrogged them in the league table. Paul Wilson was the star of the show, scoring two goals and winning the penalty for the third as the Shipyard were three up before the hour mark. With top scorer Paul Ferrier sidelined for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, Wilson stepped up to the plate and was ably assisted by Shipyard veteran Mark James.
Lumphinnans had their usual array of ex-Shipyard players and the game got off to a fierce start with a couple of heavy tackle’s going in as both teams looked to gain the initiative. The first fifteen minutes were evenly matched as neither keeper was tested, however, that changed in the 16th minute when Martin did well to gather a loose ball in the Shipyard box. He quickly launched an accurate ball up field to Paul Wilson who had sped away from the Lumphinnans defence. He took a touch to control the ball then fired a powerful shot across Davidson into the corner of the net. A couple of minutes later Brough delivered a quality ball into the box from a free-kick on the right, but a Shipyard player could not get on the end of it. Brown shot wide for Lumphinnans as they tried to get back into the match, but it was the shipyard that scored again in the 31st minute when Jamesy rolled back the years and held off the Lumphinnans defender and set up Paul Wilson for his second goal as he shot home from 16yards. Dair had an opportunity for Lumphinnans in the 38th minutes but he miss-hit his shot on the six yard line.
The Shipyard went 3 – 0 up in the 54th minute from the penalty spot after Wilson was clipped in the box. After skipping past Hardie he was fouled by the next defender and the ref had no option but to point to the spot. Mark Brough confidently tucked the ball away. In the 65th minute the Shipyard defence had to be on their toes to clear a free-kick that then fell to Dair whose shot from the edge of the box flew wide. Lumphinnans were enjoying their best spell of the match and were exerting a fair bit of pressure. A free-kick from N. Harvey was deflected for a corner and Hardie headed wide from the resultant kick. In the 81st minute Andy Martin had to be sharp off his line to tackle Dair on the edge of his area. The Lumphinnans pressure paid off as Paul Cochrane headed home a corner with seven minutes left. The Shipyard then had a great chance to put the game to bed when substitute McCue latched onto a poor pass-back, bore down on goal, but dragged his shot narrowly wide of the far post. The Shipyard finished on top as a Williams shot was deflected wide for a corner and then Russell headed the corner wide at the near post as he got too much on the ball. After the match Billy Whitehead was very happy and said “we played very well tonight and got a deserved victory as we try to finish as high up the table as possible”.
Teams: Burntisland Shipyard: Martin; Grieve; Brough (Lamont); Williams; Whyte; Russell; Hamilton; Gray; James (McCue); Wilson; Dow.
Lumphinnans United: Davidson; Hardie; Cochrane; N. Harvey; McMillan; Miller; Lynas; Brown; Child; Dair; Thomson. Subs: Stenhouse; Duffy; S. Harvey; Bratchie; Hay.
Referee: N. Martin.