It was perhaps somewhat poignant that on the day the Club paid its respects to Robert Matthew, the 6-2 Shippy win replicated the result of probably one of Rabbie’s finest hours in a Shipyard shirt, when his hat-trick helped beat St Cuthbert Wanderers by the same scoreline in the 2nd round of the Scottish Cup, some thirty years ago this month. Ex-manager and chairman Jim Thomson led the tribute, saying a few words before an impeccably observed minute’s silence was held.
There was a return for goalkeeper Ryan Couser following several weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury, otherwise, the Shippy were along the usual lines with a couple of changes from the team that started the last competitive match against Kennoway.
Shipyard got off to a whirlwind start as they hit the visitors with a three-goal salvo in the opening 13 minutes. Firstly, Tony McAndrew and Jordan Hunter linked well to set up Michael Gibb who fired his team into the lead. Hunter then netted his first Shippy goals with a double in the 11th and 13th minutes, showing great composure on both occasions to put Shippy in total command. Blair Kerr saw his shot cleared off the line in the 18th minute as it looked like Shipyard was going to score every time they went forward. Vale, to their credit, did not let their heads go down with the rest of the half being relatively even with both teams creating opportunities, however, there was no further scoring.
Jordan netted his first Shippy goals.
Dan McBay shot just wide in the 49th minute before the visitors pulled a goal back through Yassar Sambo in the 51st minute, despite what looked like a clear foul on Cammy Bell in the build-up. Indeed, Bell had to be replaced before the match resumed due to the injury he sustained. This setback seemed to reinvigorate Shippy as they hit Vale with another quick three-goal burst. Substitute Kris Murphy had the simple task of tapping the ball home from Hunter’s pass with 57 minutes on the clock. Shipyard’s fifth goal was a thing of beauty as a great flowing move ended with Murphy rising majestically to powerfully head home Gibb’s pinpoint cross. Gibby then got his double when he lashed the ball home from the corner of the six-yard box after 68 minutes. Vale got their second goal in the 81st minute through substitute Dean Burgess and they might have had a third but for Couser tipping over a shot from the edge of the area, deep into added time.
A delighted Lee Richardson said after the match “I am really pleased with that today. We looked a real threat going forward and thoroughly deserved our six goals. Equally satisfying is that three strikers each got a couple of goals and young Jordan also had a hand in two others, in what was a great all-round performance from him. Although we conceded a couple of goals, I thought we defended very well with Matty winning everything in the air and Ryan looked solid on his comeback.”
We are at home again next week as we welcome Harthill Royal to Recreation Park with the match kicking off at 2.30pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: R. Couser; D. Brockie (C. McBay 71’); E. Jowitt; M. Robertson; I. Millar (M. James 64’); D. McBay; C. Bell (K. Murphy 54’); T. McAndrew (K. Ritchie64’) J. Hunter; B. Kerr (K. Beard 64’); M. Gibb. Unused Subs: K. Okupnik & K. Crilly.
Vale of Leithen: R. Gordon; N. Masson; B. Morris (J. Brydon 64’); C. Scott; C. Mitchell; R. Nicholson; D. McKinlay; R. Bowers (D. Burgess 64’); N. Thomson (M. Silah 64’); Y. Sambo; C. Williamson (S. Fam 46’).
The Club was deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of ex player and manager Robert Matthew. Rabbie, as he was affectionally known to all of us, joined the Shipyard in 1991 and went on to have a prolific career for the Club as he broke goalscoring records with such regularity it was a normal occurrence.
The all time record goal scorer for the club arrived at Recreation Park having previously played for Brechin City, Bangor City, Raith Rovers, Glenrothes Juniors and Glenvale Amateurs. In his first four seasons he never missed a match scoring 209 goals in 183 games. In total he scored 248 goals in 235 appearances missing only four of the Clubs 239 matches in that period. That gave him an overall scoring rate of 1.06 goals per game. He scored three or more goals on twenty occasions, including one seven goal haul against Glenwood. He went on to claim twelve winners’ medals during his time at the Shipyard. One of the most notable of his hat-tricks came in a 6-2 win against St Cuthbert Wanderers in the Scottish Cup with the BBC cameras there to record it and the celebrity presenter Hazel Irvine there to give him his man of the match award. His manager during that period Jim Thomson recalled “I wanted to sign him, and Damien Bray, but I never had a contact for Rabbie, however, Damien said leave it to me, and within a couple of minutes he had agreed to sign for the Shipyard. He was a model professional for me, never giving me any problems and as his stats show he was always there, rarely missing a game and continually finding the net.”
Rabbie had a great love for the Club and when he stopped playing it was no surprise that he continued his association with the Shippy at the “Bernabeu,” as he called the ground, as both a coach and a manager. He never sought reward for playing or coaching, he was happy just to be in that environment giving his all for Burntisland Shipyard FC.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all Rabbie’s friends and family at this sad time. RIP Rabbie.
Shipyard suffered a sobering defeat at the hands of a rampant Kennoway Star Hearts at Recreation Park on Saturday going down by five goals to one. It could be argued that it might have been a heavier defeat had some decisions went the visitor’s way. A red card for Darrell Anthony only added to Shippy’s woes on a day they will quickly want to forget. Manager Lee Richardson’s preparations were disrupted when Elliott Jowitt pulled out due to illness and Kris Murphy became unavailable in the build up to kick off. Ben Anthony, Tony McAndrew and Cammy Bell missed out through suspension, while Ryan Couser, Liam Taylor, Kierren Ritchie, Mark James and Jordan Galloway were all sidelined. There was a long awaited Shipyard debut for Jordan Hunter.
Shipyard started well and were ahead within three minutes when Anthony delightfully turned in Michael Gibb’s cross. Kennoway maybe should have been level in the 7th minute when Declan Nugent intercepted a poor pass back but he shot weakly at Kacper Okupnik when he had other options. It came as no surprise when Kennoway drew level in the 13th minute as Dylan Walker lashed the ball high into the net from inside the box. Shippy might have regained the lead within a minute when a raking ball found Matty Robertson inside the area, however, his effort went wide of the target with no teammate able to get on the end of it either. There was no question that a couple of offside decisions against Kennoway were harsh and they could have been in the lead before they eventually did get ahead in the 31st minute. A corner was cleared but when the ball was returned to the back post Andrew Cameron was all alone and had plenty of time to head the ball beyond Okupnik. Shipyard had a big let off minutes later when Walker found some space in the box and looked certain to score, however, Okupnik saved his shot and he was grateful to pounce on the loose ball after it broke off Ethan Bauld. The visitors were awarded a penalty in the 42nd minute after what seemed like an innocuous challenge just inside the six yard box. Walker made no mistake from the spot to make it 3-1.
Shipyard enjoyed a good spell of pressure in the opening fifteen minutes of the second half with Gibb going close with a head flick at the near post and on the 60th minute Gibby chested the ball into the path of Blair Kerr, who was unlucky to see his shot hit the top of the bar and go over. Shipyard’s hopes of getting back into the match diminished in the 65th minute when Anthony was shown a red card for a very poor challenge on Walker and no one in the Shipyard camp had any complaints. The reaction of the Kennoway cameraman charging some fifteen yards onto the pitch accusing Richardson of asking his player to “nail” Walker was ridiculous and the Shippy manager’s reaction to this, led to him seeing red too. Unfortunately, neither the referee or his observer, who was close to the incident on the stand side, seen or heard what had happened. Remarkable!! Lewis Black added a fourth just a couple of minutes later and Walker completed his hattrick when he scored Kennoway’s fifth in the 90th minute.
Next Saturday (04/01/2025) we first foot Oakley United with the match at Blairwood Park kicking off at 2.00pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: K. Okupnik; D. Brockie; K. Crielly (K. Beard 72’); E. Bauld; I. Millar; D. Anthony; M. Robertson; D. McBay; J. Hunter (O. Farley 79’); B. Kerr; M. Gibb (C. McBay79’).
Kennoway Star Hearts: O. Martin; C. Barney; A. Cameron (R. McGill 68’); L. Young; L. Black; G. Allan (B. Mair 68’); D. Walker; S. Johnstone; D. Nugent (L. Bennett 78’); D. Meldrum; J. Lawrie. Unused Subs: D. Prattis & B. Duffield.
Huge credit had to be given to all the players who took part in this enthralling contest, as they overcame the horrendous conditions and served up a cracking cup tie that wasn’t settled until after the eighteenth penalty kick was taken. The gale force wind seemed to ease slightly as the game progressed, however, the squally showers still made the conditions extremely difficult for the players. The Shipyard starting eleven showed four changes from their heroic performance last week against Tweedmouth with Daniel Brockie, Ethan Bauld, Darrell Anthony and Kris Murphy coming in for Craig McBay, Cammy Bell, Blair Kerr and Tony McAndrew. There was a home debut in goals for Kacper Okupnik.
Shipyard had the elements behind them in the first half as they looked to pin Bathgate back in their own half and they almost broke the deadlock in the 9th minute through Mikey Gibb, however, he was denied by a good save from visitor’s keeper Craig Saunders. Thistle were getting forward, passing the ball well along the ground and they went close in the 19th minute when Shippy conceded a free kick at the edge of the box. Glenn Thomson’s set piece went just wide of the post with Okupnik scrambling across his goal. Shipyard got the goal they craved in the 20th minute when Murphy drove the ball high into the net from around twelve yards following good work from Gibby. Thomson was involved in most of Bathgate’s openings and he saw a shot go wide and looked on at a similar outcome from a headed attempt. Jordan Rodger drove over from distance after Okupnik had to leave his area and did his best to avert the danger after the ball had hung up in the wind. Shipyard missed a glorious chance to double their lead just before the interval when Gibb used his pace to break clear of the visitor’s defence but looked on in anguish as his attempt cleared the crossbar.
Gibb was causing the Bathgate defence all sorts of problems and when he broke into the six yard box, he might have won a penalty kick had he gone down when he was clipped rather than stumble on. Gibb did get a strike away but Saunders was able to block. There was a remarkably brave piece of defending from Thistle’s James Macadam when he got his face in the way of a ferocious Anthony drive from all of six yards, saving a certain goal, and after a couple of minutes treatment he was good to go again. Bathgate equalised in the 72nd minute with what appeared to be a wind assisted goal. A left footed free kick from Lennon Smith wide out on the right hand side found its way into the far top corner with no one able to get near it. In the 83rd minute a Gibb cross found Murphy at the back post; however, it looked more like his hand than his head that put the ball wide in any case. Shipyard spurned a fabulous chance to win the tie when Gibb and Murphy combined again but from a similar position to which he scored his goal the big striker could only find Saunders with his effort.
As the game moved into extra time Murphy saw his shot deflected wide and at the other end the Shipyard defence stood firm as they scrambled the ball away. In the 9th minute Thomson saw his hooked attempt go off target and a minute later Anthony saw his shot saved by Saunders. As the extra time drew to a conclusion the last chance saw Thomson again involved in the action as he saw his shot deflected. So, to penalties!!
The first five for each team were expertly converted with neither keeper getting near them, indeed that pattern continued until Okupnik got a good hand to the seventh, however, the ball had enough on it to trickle over the line. The drama was not done there though! Saunders saved Kieran Crielly’s kick, Shipyard’s eighth, however, the referee deemed that the keeper was off his line and ordered a retake, much to the disgust of the Bathgate technical area. Crielly smashed the retake into the net. Finlay McKay converted Thistle’s ninth kick and when Daniel Brockie stepped up for Shippy to keep the shootout going, his attempt was wide of the target meaning Bathgate had won 9-8 on penalties.
Manager Lee Richardson said after the game “I was very pleased with the boys again today. They showed the same application as last Saturday and I can’t fault any of them. It was a game that could have gone either way, though we might have won it towards the end of the ninety minutes. When it goes to penalties it’s a lottery as someone is inevitably going to miss one and I feel for Disco and also Kacper who was very unlucky not to keep one out.”
Next Saturday it’s back to league business as we welcome Kennoway Star Hearts to Burntisland. Kick-off is a 2.30pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: K. Okupnik; D. Brockie; K. Crielly; M. Robertson; E. Jowitt (I. Millar 105’); D. Anthony; E. Bauld; D. McBay; K. Murphy; J. Galloway (C. McBay 80’); M. Gibb. Unused Sub; K. Beard.
Bathgate Thistle: C. Saunders; K. Moonie; L. Peggie (R. McGill 22’); R. Stevenson; J. Macadam; J. Tapping (F. McKay 59’); J. Rodger (M. Campbell 59’); F. Cormack; A. McInnes; G. Thomson; L. Smith. Unused Subs: C. Thomson; S. Thomson; G. Dryden.
A never-say-die performance from nine-man Shipyard ensured they travelled back up the road with at least the point they deserved from their controversial encounter with Tweedmouth Rangers at Shielfield Stadium on Saturday. Cammy Bell and Tony McAndrew were both ordered off for remarks the referee took umbrage to, Bell was shown a straight red and McAndrew received a second yellow while entering the dugout with the referee not permitting his replacement by Sandy Strang to take place. Meanwhile, Shippy keeper Kacper Okupnik sustained a three-inch gash just above his knee following a dangerous challenge at the edge of the box. Nothing to see here though!! The game swung back and forth with the lead changing hands three times before Elliot Jowitt’s 93rd minute leveller sent the Shipyard contingent wild with delight, probably with a sense of some justice in the celebrations. A happy Lee Richardson said after the match “There is no individual man of the match today. Every one of those boys who took the field today deserves enormous credit for their performances, every facet of their play that you would look for in the face of adversity shone through. Grit, character, determination, passion, togetherness and no lack of skill earned them some reward.” He went on to add “There were some decisions that were made today that I found strange to say the least, however, I won’t be drawn on the referee’s performance.” There was a Shipyard debut for the aforementioned Okupnik and the young keeper can be very pleased with his contribution with some fine saves and excellent distribution.
Okupnik made a good stop in the 7th minute diving low to his left to turn the ball away for a corner. The hosts went close when the set piece was delivered, however, no one could get on the end of the low ball across the face and the danger was averted. Bell drove forward and engineered some space for himself but his shot was straight at Rangers keeper Aaron Jones. Michael Gibb also ran at the Tweedmouth defence but his shot lacked the direction to trouble Jones. The hosts took the lead in the 21st minute with a great strike from Cameron Howden who found the top of the net with a well struck shot. Bell received his red card in the 29th minute, however, that didn’t see Shipyard heads go down and Jordan Galloway brought out a great save from Jones who pushed the effort around the post at the expense of a corner. Shippy drew level in the 39th minute when a pinpoint Kieran Crielly cross was headed home by Gibb giving the keeper no chance. Crielly then timed his tackle to perfection as he slid in to deny the Rangers forward. There were a couple of minutes added on at the end of the half following the challenge on Okupnik.
In the 52nd minute your roving reporter was noting the substitution of Strang replacing McAndrew when the referee left the pitch, entered the technical area and showed the Shipyard youngster a second yellow card and did not allow the substitution to take place. Bizarre!!! Even being two men down didn’t break Shippy resolve and in the 64th minute they took the lead. A sublime free-kick delivery from Galloway found the head of Dan McBay and he showed great composure as he nodded the ball home. Naturally, Rangers were now enjoying a lot of the ball and were camped in the Shipyard half, however, a resolute Shippy defence was standing firm at this stage with Okupnik getting down low to make a save and also clutching a couple of shots that were straight at him. The defence was finally breeched in the 79th minute with a sensational overhead kick from Craig Bell that nestled in the corner of the net. Four minutes later Shipyard spurned an outstanding chance to regain the lead when Gibby got on the end of Daniel Brockie’s long ball but sadly for Shippy he couldn’t keep his attempt down. Matty Robertson made a great block at the expense of a corner and it was from there that Tweedmouth took the lead. The near post delivery was headed into the net by Christian Temple for what many though was the winner. It was a disappointing goal to concede, that being said, the lack of numbers was a factor. A Shipyard free kick played into the area caused panic amongst the defence and a Strang attempt bounced off the outside of the post. Shipyard were not to be denied though and a Kai Beard corner was headed back across goal by Gibb and Jowitt was on hand to knock the ball home from close range sparking wild celebrations within the Shipyard camp. Jowitt was cautioned for taking his shirt off in the celebrations but frankly, who cared. Certainly, nobody in Shipyard colours. There were ninety three minutes on the clock.
Next week we return to Burntisland for King Cup action as Bathgate Thistle visit for a second round tie. Kick-off is at 2.30pm.
Tweedmouth Rangers: A. Jones; R. Dixon; E. Smith; C. Heath; R. Lightfoot; C. Temple; C. Bell; R. Bloomfield; C. Howden; TJ (S. Straughan) 62’; J. Cummings. Unused Subs: T. Gruter; E. Duff; G. Sabatini.
Burntisland Shipyard: K. Okupnik; C. McBay (D. Brockie 56’); K. Crielly; M. Robertson; E. Jowitt; J. Galloway (K. Beard 77’); C. Bell; D. McBay; B. Kerr (S. Strang 56’); M. Gibb; A. McAndrew.
The Shipyard slumped to a 2-0 home defeat against Easthouses Lily at Recreation Park on Saturday, with two second half goals sealing their fate. A second yellow card for Ethan Bauld on the hour mark only exacerbated the Shippy’s problems, especially as fellow centre back Iain Millar had limped off a few minutes earlier, just after the visitors had taken the lead. Liam Taylor replaced the suspended Ben Anthony and Elliot Jowitt was a late replacement for Daniel Brockie who pulled out in the build up. Unfortunately, young Taylor took a whack to his knee just short of the half hour mark and he had to leave the field in some considerable pain, curtailing his comeback.
Easthouses had a chance in the fourth minute; however, Ryan Couser was quick off his line to avert the danger. Shipyard had a great chance to take the lead in the 10th minute when Mikey Gibb broke clear, but he slightly overran the ball and Easthouses’ keeper Tom Angus was able to save. Shippy did have the ball in the net two minutes later following a flowing move which was well finished by Tony McAndrew, only for the referee to deem him offside. Taylor got caught by a poor challenge that had the youngster in obvious distress and the shouts of abuse he took from the visitor’s technical area were disgusting and uncalled for. Bauld responded to some of the shouts which he was cautioned for, something that would later come back to haunt him. Couser got down low to his left to save a shot from around twenty yards before Shippy almost broke the deadlock through Gibb. A Jordan Galloway free kick was headed back across goal by Millar and Gibby went close as his attempt went just wide. Cammy Bell was also unfortunate as his angled drive drifted wide.
Easthouses opened the scoring in the 56th minute through Logan Imrie when he drilled a low shot into the corner of the net after Shippy had failed to clear the ball from their box. Millzy was hurt in the lead up to the goal and was replaced by Blair Kerr before the match resumed. A couple of minutes later Bauld received his second yellow for a foul midway inside the Shipyard half and unfortunately had to walk. A Galloway snapshot was just wide as Shippy searched for an equaliser; however, it was the visitors who scored again, this time from the penalty spot after Couser was penalised for his challenge while grounded in his area. Neil Janczyk made no mistake from twelve yards. Shipyard had a chance to reduce the arrears late on as Gibb broke through but once again, he was unable to beat Angus from inside the area.
We are at home again next week as Vale of Leithen visit for another league match. Kick-off is at 2.30pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: R. Couser; M. Robertson; E. Jowitt; E. Bauld; I. Millar (B. Kerr 57’); M. James; C. Bell; D. McBay; L. Taylor (J. Galloway 30’); A. McAndrew (K. Crielly 70’); M. Gibb. Unused Subs: D. Brockie; K. Beard; C. McBay; K. Ritchie.
Easthouses Lily MW: T. Angus; J. Murray; R. McQueenie (D. Waugh 74’); A. Garland-McGlynn; R. Kearney; A. Elliot (M. Gilfillan 81’); L. Sives; N. Janczyk; C. Dyet (D. Leslie 81’); L. Imrie (J. Devlin 74’); S. Thomson (L. Marko 81’). Unused Subs: D. Simpson & R. Comerford.
