Rover and out for Shipyard.
Although three nil probably flattered Peebles, there was no doubt that they deserved their win as the Shipyard turned in a below par performance. Two goals in injury time put a gloss on the Peebles performance but they could have had the game wrapped up earlier as they created the better chances over the ninety minutes. Although the Shipyard were missing several key players it was no excuse for such a miserable display. Brendan Napier joined the injury list alongside Stephen Connor, Alan Clark and Dale Robertson. Stuart Blake and Ryan Connor were unavailable.
Jordan Mushet was called into action in the 4th minute when he held a Dave Richardson header from close range. The Shipyard replied at the other end with Grant Blyth shooting across the face of the Peebles goal. Lee Henderson delivered a great ball into the Peebles box but no one could get on the end of it. Yusif Bernawi should have done better inside the Shipyard six yard box rather than scooping his shot over the bar. In the 19th minute Richardson got on the end of a corner but again his header was too close to Mushet. Incredibly Richardson again found space in the Shipyard box and this time his header beat Mushet but it was just too high and the ball hit the top of the bar and went over. The Shipyard had a let off when Gerrard Rossi saw his powerful drive from the edge of the box crash back of the bar. A change in the Shipyard formation saw them come more into the match and Kevin Masson was unlucky to see his hooked effort drift wide of the far post with the keeper beaten. Masson was unlucky again in the 37th minute when his shot from 10 yards was blocked by Peebles keeper Chris Malcolm’s leg at the expense of a corner. As play switched to the other end Mushet was in action again as he held a strike from Calum Conaghan. In the 38th minute the Shipyard had to replace the injured Adam Doig with Gavin Bridges.
Peebles came out and dominated the start of the second half with Rossi curling a shot just wide, and then Mushet had to come out of his box to clear the danger by booting clear. Peebles took the lead in the 53rd minute when Scott Sutherland cut inside his man at the corner of the box and his shot found the bottom corner with Mushet seemingly unsighted as the ball went past him. A minute later Blair Smart cleared the ball off the line as he kept his side in the match. A powerful run from Masson set up a chance for Renato Sartarello but he could not get his shot on target. Play quickly switched to the other end and Rossi saw his shot drift across the face of the Shipyard goal. Seconds later Pete Bell had to throw himself in front of the ball to make a vital block. Bridges delivered a good cross from the Shipyard right hand side but Sartarello could not get over the ball to get his header on target. With fifteen minutes remaining a Masson free kick was too straight to give Malcolm any trouble in dealing with it. Conaghan was not too far away at the other end when his flick from a corner at the near post went narrowly wide. With two minutes remaining the Shipyard created their clearest chance of the match when Masson headed the ball on to substitute Ewan Fotheringham. However, with only the keeper to beat Fotheringham probably shot too early and his effort lacked the power or direction to beat Malcolm. The Shipyard were made to rue that miss as Peebles tied the game up in added time. The Shipyard lost possession in the Peebles half and they broke quickly to set up sub Frankie Arthur who produced a fine finish to beat Mushet. More salt was rubbed into the Shipyard wound as with almost the last kick off the match Peebles scored again when a weak clearance fell to Arthur who made no mistake from the edge of the box.
Manager Myles Allan could not hide his disappointment after the match as he questioned his teams will to win as he said “It was a poor start and we didn’t really get a foothold in the match at any point. Yes, we had attacks and created some chances but we never really had any sustained periods of pressure. I just feel that we lacked any sort of desire and were beaten by a side that wanted it more which is really disappointing. We sat far too deep because we didn’t put enough pressure on the ball and when we were in possession we didn’t keep hold of it for long enough. However, these players are capable of more and I’m sure they’ll be desperate to put it right next week against Kelso”.
Teams: Peebles Rovers: C. Malcolm; J. Hall; G. Shortreed; C. Conaghan (D. Munro); D. Richardson; J. Manson; J. Flockhart (C. Edgar); C. Flockhart; G. Rossi; S. Sutherland; Y. Bernawi (F. Arthur). Unused Sub: J. Boyle.
Burntisland Shipyard: J. Mushet; A. MacDonald; L. Henderson; B. Smart; C, McKay; P. Bell; A. Doig (G. Bridges); C. Lowe; R. Sartarello (E. Fotheringham); K. Masson; G. Blyth (J. Crombie). Unused Sub: M. Morrison.
Referee: S. Allan.