Shippy suffer another defeat.
It was one of those days for the Shipyard as it seemed every decision went against them and this unfortunately led to frustrations boiling over with two red cards handed out to the angry and somewhat disillusioned Shippy squad. The Shipyard travelled south without recent signing Conor Drury though Sean Doyle, Sean Cusick and Tommy Hall returned to the squad.
Peebles were on top in the early stages with keeper Cammy Lambie having a couple of efforts to deal with. Arran Haddow saw his snapshot at the other end fly over the bar shortly before James Runciman missed the best chance so far when he shot over from a good position. David Lindsay also missed a great chance as the home side maintained the upper hand but Haddow almost stunned them just before the break when his drive from the edge of the box narrowly cleared the bar.
The Shipyard made a change early in the second half as it seemed only a matter of time before the referee sent off Cusick, however, his replacement Sean Doyle was involved in creating the best chance of the match so far. Doyle and Lee Halpin linked up to create a chance for Ewan Fotheringham and the diminutive midfielder should have done better than shoot straight at keeper Ben McGinley. Lambie pulled off a good save shortly before Peebles broke the deadlock when the ball went in off the unfortunate Shippy defender Craig Hamilton. Shipyard coach Chris Maxwell was then sent to the stand as he contested yet another contentious decision that went against his team. Following a Shipyard free-kick Haddow again went close when he poked the ball wide, though when the ball was played in to the area Doyle was clearly impeded as he went to get on the end of the delivery but the ref did not pull play back to award the penalty. Peebles then rubbed salt into the Shipyard wounds by going up the park and doubling their lead, albeit in highly controversial circumstances. The Rovers forward looked yards offside when he put the ball in the net and when the referee awarded the goal it was too much for keeper Lambie and he was shown a red card for comments made to Mr McGregor. It was now very much mission impossible for the Shippy though Callum McAleavey went close with a headed effort. Peebles scored their third with twelve minutes remaining when Alan McMath hooked in from close range. Replacement keeper Kenny Ford pulled off a good save from Rovers sub Robbie Renwick before the game finished with another controversial incident. Doyle burst into the area and when McGinley dived at the attacker’s feet he appeared to bring him down though the ref thought otherwise and once again the Shipyard were punished as the home team broke up the park and scored their fourth.
The league now heads into a winter break with the Shipyard not back in competitive action until 14th January 2017 when they travel west to take on the University of Stirling.
Peebles Rovers: B. McGinley; J. Dodds; M. Cockburn; B. Brown; C. Smith; G. Rossi; S. Keith (J. Newell); L. Zavaroni (R Renwick); A. McMath (C. Robertson); D. Lindsay; J. Runciman
Burntisland Shipyard: C. Lambie; D. Hyslop; E. Fotheringham; C. Hamilton; S. Wilson; C. McAleavey; A. Haddow; K. Ford; S. Cusick (S. Doyle); C. Allison (T. Hall); L. Halpin.
Referee: G. McGregor.