Shipyard routed by rampant Rovers.
The Shipyard suffered a humiliating 6-1 defeat at Peebles as goal after goal was gifted to the hosts in what was a woeful performance. A wonderfully finished consolation goal from Brendan Napier was the only crumb of comfort that could be taken from the game. Ethan Anderson joined Pete Bell and Billy Rogerson on the injury list after picking up a head cut on Wednesday night.
Peebles started the match on the front foot and with a strong wind behind them dominated territorially in the early exchanges. Jordan Mushet held a shot from Jordan Finnie in the 13th minute and a minute later the same player went close as he shot narrowly wide. Napier saw his 25yard free-kick held by Rovers keeper Darren Walker in the Shipyards first attempt on target. The Shipyard fell behind after 33 minutes in an all too familiar fashion as possession was lost deep inside their own half and Daniel McAleavey fired an angled strike across Mushet and into the bottom corner. Three minutes later Peebles doubled their lead when Frankie Arthur was able to run onto a long ball and he lobbed Mushet as the keeper came to meet him. Within minutes the Shippy conceded again in what was a carbon copy of the first goal, this time Sean Conaghan was the benefactor as the hosts went into the break three goals to the good.
The manager made a triple change just after the hour mark as he looked to change things but Peebles continued to dominate and Mushet did well to block with his legs before the ball was scrambled away. A fourth goal arrived in the 69th minute after a bit of uncertainty between Mushet and Alan Clark that saw the defender head the ball up in the air. Rovers Scott Sutherland held off a challenge and knocked the ball into the net. The Shipyard scored their consolation goal in the 72nd minute when Napier scored with his superb finish, floating the ball into the top corner from the angle of the box. Substitute Dale Robertson saw his shot held as the Shipyard briefly looked to get a way back into the match. Peebles rubbed salt into the Shipyard wounds with two more goals in added time as firstly Andy MacDonald played a square ball across his own 18yard line that McAleavey greatly accepted and knocked home his second of the match. With the Shipyard defence all at sea Dale Richardson was all alone at the back post as he headed into the unguarded net.
Peebles Rovers: D. Walker; J. Flockhart; C. Taylor; M. Hart; G. Burns; F. Arthur; J. Finnie ( G. Rossi); D. McAleavey; S. Sutherland ( D. Richardson); S. Meikle (L. Zavaroni); S. Conaghan. Unused Subs: C. Malcolm & D. Ndiweni.
Burntisland Shipyard: J. Mushet; T. Arthur; C. Samson; A. Clark; A. MacDonald; B. Napier; S. Keatings; C. Lowe; E. Henderson ( A. Doig); K. Masson ( D. Robertson); JP. McPhail (K. Buckley). Unused Subs: B. Smart & D. Watt.
Referee: R. Thomson.