Students swept aside in Shippy goal spree.

A devastating three goal salvo in the opening fifteen minutes had the Shipyard on easy street and despite the students scoring a couple of goals in a ten-minute spell either side of half-time the destination of the three points was never in doubt. On a bright but chilly afternoon at Recreation Park the Shippy ran in nine goals as they kept their excellent run of form going with Stirling University under the cosh from the outset. New signing Dale Allan had an impressive debut, netting twice in the second half as well as being involved in four of the five first half goals. Gavin Ross also scored his first Shipyard goals and big Rocky might even have notched a hat-trick but blazed a left foot shot over the bar after some great footwork inside the Uni box.

There was barely a minute on the clock when the Shipyard took the lead as a deep cross to the back post was smashed home by the onrushing Ryan O’Donnell as he registering his first goal of the season with a marvellous first-time strike that fizzed into the top corner. An Allan cross in the 5^th minute found the head of Robbie Crawford and as the Uni defence struggled to keep the ball out Reece Brown was on hand to bundle the ball over the line. There was a slice of good fortune about the third goal as Allan’s cross was played against the legs of Crawford and the ball cannoned off him finding the bottom corner of the net. Shippy keeper Michael Gibb had been a spectator for much of the opening period, however, he was on his toes when called upon to make a good save in the 16^th minute. A fourth Shipyard goal arrived in the 37^th minute when Sam Glancy drove home a low left foot effort from the edge of the box. The visitors pulled a goal back in the 40^th minute amid furious protests from the Shippy defence with their appeals for offside being ignored by the referee allowing Ted Hodges to beat Gibb. The Shippy quickly restored their four-goal advantage as Ross headed home Allan’s corner just before the ref blew for the interval.

Captain Sandy Strang picked up a nasty cut to his leg at the start of the second period and he was replaced by Connor McQuade on 48 minutes. The visitors were enjoying their best spell in the match as Gibb saved with his legs from Ryan Campbell and further pressure from the Uni allowed Campbell to find the net though the Shipyard would be disappointed with their defending. The hosts quickly got back on the front foot and missed a couple of chances before they scored their sixth in the 62^nd minute. A long throw from Millar was headed home by Ross who had risen the highest to add to his earlier effort. Allan scored his first Shipyard goal in the 69^th minute when he tapped home after Uni keeper Colin Sanchez spilled Andy Watt’s shot. Allan got another as he capitalised on some slackness in the Stirling defence and he doubled his tally with a cool finish. Hodges missed a great chance for a consolation goal but blazed over with the goal at his mercy. Ross missed his aforementioned opportunity for his hat-trick as the game moved into added time, however, there was still time for another Shipyard goal as Glancy also scored a brace netting with a fine angled shot from around twelve yards.

Next Saturday (02/11/2019) the Shipyard are on the road as they travel to face Easthouses Lily MW at Newbattle Complex. Kick off is at 2.30pm.

Burntisland Shipyard: M. Gibb, R. O’Donnell, I. Millar (G. Skinner), D. Hunter, G. Ross, Jon. Galloway, D. Allan, S. Strang (C. McQuade), R. Brown (A. Watt), S. Glancy, R. Crawford. Unused Subs: B. Hutchison, J. Finlay, K. Kwapinski.

Stirling University: C. Sanchez, M. Brown, L.D.Y. Lee, Ross Campbell, F. Goodlad, K. Whitefield, Ryan Campbell, S. Frankland, A. Davidson, M. Baber, T. Hodges. Subs: R. Spiers, R. MacLaren, W. Renwick, A. Guzel.

Referee: R. Lee.