Never say die Shipyard fight back to win
The Shipyard staged a remarkable fight back as they came from two goals down to win 3-2 as Peebles finished the match with nine men. Mark Hamilton was out, still recovering from illness. Liall Robertson and Stuart Gray were missing due to work commitments. Trialist Tom Williams fitted in at centre back and Craig Hatton played in centre midfield.
The Shipyard had an early chance within the first twenty seconds when Paul Wilson got to the by-line but his cut back was cleared. Peebles first chance came in the 14th minute when a poor clearance was picked up by Charles Nwanze, however, Melia recovered to push the shot away. In the 17th minute a Shaun Lamont free-kick was easily held by Kris Lennie in the Peebles goal before a minute later Peebles took the lead when Craig Edgar’s shot from the right-hand side of the box flew over Melia and into the corner of the net. The Shipyard almost drew level in the 22nd minute when from an Owen McCue corner Tom Williams saw his header from close range pushed round the post. Peebles went into a 2-0 lead in the 39th minute when the Shipyard defence failed to deal with a corner and Charles Nwanze prodded home from close range. Melia pulled off a good save in the 41st minute before Wilson twice had shots at goal for the Shipyard as the half drew to a close.
The Shipyard started the second half as they did the first as Rutherford set up Ferrier inside 15 seconds but his strike from 25yards was just over. Peter Conaghan shot over from 25yards as the Shipyard defence again made a hash of trying to clear the ball. Peebles were dealt a blow in the 57th minute when Greig Shortreed received his second yellow card that left his team down to ten men with over half an hour to play. James Whyte ran over half the length of the park with the ball and then unleashed a great shot that Lennie was happy to push away for a corner. This seemed to inspire the Shipyard as within three minutes they were back on level terms. Firstly, when the ball broke to Ryan Rutherford in the centre of the box, he smashed a left foot shot into the net. Then when Paul Ferrier received the ball outside the box, he smashed it beyond Lennie for a stunning strike. The Shipyard were dominant now and Lennie pulled off a fantastic double save to keep his side level. He managed to push a Hatton header away and was on his toes again to also push away Rutherford’s powerful effort. Melia held a header from Peebles sub Gareth Manson as the home side showed they were not out of it. The Peebles defence were now under a lot of pressure as the Shipyard looked for the winner and Lennie held a Ferrier shot before also saving from Rutherford who took a pass from Dow and turned and shot in one movement. The Shipyard grabbed what turned out to be the winner when Lennie, who did excellently to save Rutherford’s free-kick, could only knock the ball down to Tom Williams who blasted the ball into the net from close range. Peebles were reduced to nine men when sub Jason Girwood received two yellow cards in quick succession for fouls. Paul Wilson almost got a fourth for the Shipyard in the final few seconds when after good build up he fired his shot just over from the edge of the box.
Manager Whitehead was happy to get the win but said afterwards “The first half was a very poor performance and not good enough. However, the second half was much better and once we got the first goal back I was confident we could go on to win”.
Teams: Peebles Rovers: Lennie; White (Girwood); Hunter (Gorrie); Gordon; Williamson; Linton; Conaghan; Shortreed; Edgar; Cairns; Nwanze (Manson).
Referee: G. Marini