McCue double as Kinross pay the penalty
The Shipyard played some good football as they comfortably beat a strong and physical Kinross team by 3 goals to 1 at Recreation Park. Scott Chalmers returned in goals for the Shipyard and there were also recalls for Grieve and Cook. The Kinross squad showed no fewer than 10 changes from when the sides last met just over a month ago.
The game started at a furious pace and Kinross were first to threaten in the first minute when instead of shooting the forward elected to pass and the danger was cleared. Kinross did have an attempt on target in the next minute when Chalmers held a header from 6 yards out. The Shipyard had their first attempt in the 3rd minute when Johnston’s header was held by O’Hare in the Kinross goal. The chances continued to come and M. Hamilton was next to have a go when he shot from 20 yards but O’Hare held it comfortably. In the 12th minute Hamilton went even closer when he beat 2 men at the edge of the box only to see his fierce drive tipped over. The Shipyard took the lead in the 23rd minute from the penalty spot after Owen McCue was clumsily tackled in the box. He got up and took the kick himself making no mistake. Kinross were giving as good as they got and Chalmers had to be sharp in the 44th minute to hold an effort from Hain. Straight away the ball was back up the other end and Johnston had a shot held by the keeper. On the stroke of half-time Johnston went close again when he headed over from a good position after a free-kick picked him out.
The Shipyard got off to a great start in the second half when Tom Williams nodded in at the back post after a corner broke to him off the keeper. Kinross could have pulled one back in the 50th minute when Cook’s header was picked up by the Kinross forward and with Chalmers coming out to meet him he put a poor effort wide. Leishman then showed great skill bursting into the box, only to be denied by a last ditch tackle. From the corner the Shipyard had a huge penalty claim waved away by the referee for what seemed a blatant handball. The Shipyard were well on top now and playing some good stuff. In the space of a few seconds both Johnston and Small saw goal bound efforts blocked. Kinross were not out of it yet and they twice went close with a header over from 6 yards and after good build up play, Chalmers had to save with his legs. The Shipyard were awarded another penalty in the 78th minute when Leishman was kicked in the shins after a mistimed tackle, although he didn’t go to ground the contact was obvious. Owen McCue stepped up again and made it 3 – 0, lashing the ball into the net. Kinross pulled a goal back in the 82nd minute when a cross from the right found Crowe at the back post for an easy tap in. The Shipyard finished the game on the front foot and Small saw his drive held at the near post, and then Grieve’s cross took a deflection before it was headed away from under the bar.
After the match Billy Whitehead was delighted and said “again we played some great football and kept our discipline against a physical team. I thought we deserved our margin of victory, though I am disappointed at the way we lost the goal”.
Teams: Burntisland Shipyard: Chalmers; Grieve; Whyte; T. Williams; Cook; Small; M. Hamilton (Hutt); Leishman; McCue; Johnston (S. Hamilton); J. Williams (Dow). Unused Subs: Brown; Houston.
Kinross: O’Hare; Wardlaw; McLean; Robertson; Baillie; S. Brown; Hain; Graham; Haxton; McIntyre; D. Brown. Subs: Carson; Bowe; Crowe.
Referee: J. Curran.