No sunshine on Leith for Shippy as hosts run riot.
The Shipyard’s victory in their last match against Heriot Watt University seemed a distant memory as they fell back into their pre-Christmas form at Meadowbank 3G as Leith Athletic ran out easy winners scoring nine goals in the process.
To be fair, the hosts are a slick well-oiled outfit and can dismantle better teams than the Shipyard, however, the Shippy weren’t helping themselves with some very poor defending and you could also throw some debatable refereeing decisions into the mix.
The Shippy fell behind in the 10th minute with appeals for offside falling on deaf ears and it was two nil five minutes later after a dreadful defensive mix up. The third goal came direct from a corner when it appeared that keeper Marcus Taylor’s was impeded as he looked to gather the cross. A fourth goal came from the penalty spot a couple of minutes before half-time.
The Shipyard started the second half better and Leith keeper Iain Gordon had to be on his toes to palm away a Ryan Calder cross/shot in the 47th minute. The hosts got their fifth goal and again it came from the penalty spot after Donald Hyslop was penalised for a trip. This knocked out any of the stuffing the Shippy players had left in them and Leith went on to score another four goals in the closing stages as the Shippy players waited on the ref’s final whistle.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Shipyard this coming Saturday with Lothian Thistle HV being the visitors to Recreation Park. Kick off for this match is 2.30pm.
Leith Athletic: I. Gordon, A. Lewis, S. Melvin, N. Lowson, G. Burns, R. Mason, L. Tracey, K. Allan, J. Ferguson, S. Wilson, L. Martin. Subs: J. Colme, J. Hainey, G. Kneeshaw, T. Black, K. Fee, M. Wilkie, S. Glynn.
Burntisland Shipyard: M. Taylor, S. Powrie (K. Ford), B. Jenkins (R. Calder) M. Black, S. Wilson, C. McAleavey, D. Hyslop, C. Drury, E. Fotheringham, S. Cusick, D. Ginc (A. Haddow). Unused sub: C. Lambie.
Referee: N. Marshall.