Late collapse denies Shippy all three points
A host of missed chances and some frustrating refereeing decisions saw the Shipyard throw away what seemed an unassailable 2-0 lead with only a couple of minutes left on the clock. It really should have been three points in the bag and back up the road. Despite the horrendous weather conditions on the Journey to Galashiels, everyone was surprised on arrival at Netherdale, how much lower the strength of the wind actually was when disembarking the coach. Even the rain didn’t seem as heavy as what had been falling on the journey south. New signing Matty Miller took his place on the Shipyard bench alongside the returning Sam Glancy. Ross Lennie didn’t make the squad having failed to recover from the injury he picked up last Saturday.
A driving run from Darrell Anthony almost produced a goal as early as the second minute but he was thwarted by the frame of the goal and then Hawick keeper Dean Fry who saved his follow up shot. Ben Anthony saw his drive pushed round the post as the Shipyard dominated the early stages. Reece Brown fired a shot off target in the 15th minute before the Albert started to impose themselves on the match. Centre forward Jack Hay saw his attempt come back off the upright as he capitalised on a mistake in the Shippy defence. In the 22nd minute it took a fantastic last-ditch tackle from Ryan O’Donnell to deny Hawick a shooting opportunity as their forward bore down on Michael Gibb. A Brown snapshot was saved by Fry and almost immediately the hosts could have taken the lead. Nathan Gillie looked well offside as he moved onto the long clearance up the park, however, he somewhat fluffed his lines as he shot wide. Dean Hunter was the next to produce an excellent challenge as he denied another shooting chance and the danger was not cleared as the ball broke to a Hawick player some 25yards out and he hit a fierce drive that was tipped over by Gibb. The Shipyard struck the woodwork again on the stroke of half-time when Robbie Crawford got on the end of Brown’s cross but unfortunately for the Shippy the ball bounced off the post and into the keeper’s arms.
The Shipyard took the lead three minutes into the second half with a simple goal. A Dale Allan corner played into the front post was easily flicked home by the unmarked D. Anthony. There was a huge moment of controversy in the 63rd minute as B. Anthony burst clear. Fry came out to challenge him but was never getting there. Anthony got to the ball some thirty yards from goal and as he looked to take the ball round the sprawling keeper it was blocked by what looked a blatant handball, however, the referee though it hit his backside and waved play on. Hawick had a couple of efforts just after this as firstly Gibb saved low from John Shankie and then Hay shot wide. The Shipyard doubled their lead on 66 minutes with a great goal. Substitute Sam Glancy played a delightful ball to D. Anthony and he showed great composure as he rolled the ball into the corner of the net. Young Anthony was denied his hat-trick by another harsh decision when he knocked the ball into the net after Fry had pushed the ball out to his feet in saving a cross cum shot from B. Anthony. It seemed that the referee failed to notice the Hawick player who had tried block the cross had played Darrell onside. This seemed to spur the Shippy on and big Iain Millar went close in the 68th and 73rd minutes. A Brown shot was tipped over and an Allan effort was deflected wide as the visitors dominated. A ball flashed across the Hawick six-yard box might have been turned in and the Shippy were made to rue these missed opportunities as the Albert threw caution to the wind for the final few minutes. Hay drove forward and won a corner after his strike was blocked before another controversial decision. An innocuous ball into the Shipyard box saw two players challenge for the ball and the referee was the only one who saw something amiss as he pointed to the spot awarding Hawick a penalty. Despite the vehement protests from the Shipyard players the decision stood. Substitute Ross Scott smashed his penalty beyond Gibb. In the 92nd minute another long ball through the middle caught out the Shippy defence and Hay was able to break clear and remain composed to slot the ball into the net sending the home contingent wild. Those celebrations should have been cut short within a minute as B. Anthony was presented with a glorious chance, however, the normally clinical striker blasted over from around twelve yards with the goal at his mercy. There was still time for Hay to receive a second yellow card, possibly for something he said, to go along with his first for wearing an earring, which ended a somewhat eventful day.
The Shipyard are at home this week (22/02/2020) as Dalkeith Thistle visit Recreation Park for a league match. Kick-off is 2.30pm.
Hawick Royal Albert United: D. Fry, K. Paterson, R. Shepherd, K. Strathdee, A. Reilly, D. Chandler, N. Gillie (R. Scott), G. Ford, J. Hay, L. Swaney (C. Hope), J. Shankie. Unused Subs: S. Burton.
Burntisland Shipyard: M. Gibb, R. O’Donnell, I. Millar, D. Hunter, G. Ross (M. Miller), S. Strang, R. Crawford (S. Glancy), D. Anthony, B. Anthony, R. Brown, D. Allan. Unused Subs: J. Galloway, A. Watt, K. Kwapinski.
Referee: B. Falconer.