Honours even at King George V Park
The Shipyard stretched their unbeaten run to 5 games after earning a deserved point in a 1-1 draw at Strathmiglo. The game was switched to Strathmiglo after Recreation Park was deemed unplayable on Friday afternoon. The Shipyard team showed one change from the last two weeks with the injured Lee Small being replaced by Mark Hamilton.
With conditions wet and blustery the Shipyard had the wind behind them in the first half and created the first chance after 2 minutes but S. Hamilton headed over. Strathmiglo’s first attempt came in the 13th minute when a shot was fired wide of the target. The Shipyard had most of the play in the early stages but, it was Strath who went closest to opening the scoring in the 16th minute when the Shipyard defence could not clear the ball and rode their luck with a couple of shots being blocked. Strath did break the deadlock in the 19th minute when a low cross from the left was turned in at the near post by Lee White. The Shipyard responded well and took a grip of the game with a McCue free-kick from wide on the right being tipped over by Strath keeper Dickson. In the 29th minute the Shipyard were level when another Owen McCue free-kick, this time from the left-hand corner of the box, was deflected off the Strath wall to leave Dickson helpless. 3 minutes later the Shipyard should have been ahead when good play saw Leishman receive a pass from McCue that put him through on the keeper, however, the keeper done well to block his shot. McCue was creating most of the chances for the Shipyard and it was from his corner kick that J. Williams headed over from the corner of the 6 yard box. Next to try his luck was McAndrew, who strode forward to hit a fierce shot that Dickson gathered at the second attempt. On the stroke of half time Strath had a chance but Baillie headed over.
Conditions had improved for the second half with the rain off and the wind dropping. Strathmiglo had the first attempt of the half that saw a shot flash across the Shipyard goalmouth. The Shipyard almost took the lead in the 56th minute when S. Hamilton beat keeper Dickson in a jump for the ball. His header was blocked on the line with the Shipyard having some claims for hand ball on the line, however, the Referee correctly waved them away. The Shipyard were awarded a free-kick some 30 yards from goal and T. Williams unleashed a ferocious shot that Dickson got a fingertip to and the ball crashed back off the bar. Both J. Williams and Grieve had to leave the field injured and this undoubtedly upset the Shipyard’s rhythm. In the 72nd McCue had an effort that was blocked and rebounded to him, his second effort was also blocked then cleared. Strathmiglo took control of the game for the final 15 minutes and Chalmers was forced to pull off four saves as they pushed for the winner. The last opportunity actually fell to the Shipyard when Leishman found himself unmarked in the box but he headed wide. After the game manager Billy Whitehead said “ I felt we were on top for long spells of the game and could have won it. The injuries to Josh and Gogs forced changes to the shape of the team and we had to hang on a bit at the end. However, it stretches our unbeaten run and this isn’t the easiest place to come and get a result.”
Teams: Strathmiglo United: J. Dickson; Patrick; M. Dickson; Ritchie; Smith; Nicol; Anderson; Hall; White; Ballie; McLaughlin. Subs: Hassan; Mowatt; Clark; Spence.
Burntisland Shipyard: Chalmers; McAndrew; Grieve (Tasker); T. Williams; Cook; J. Williams (Dow); McCue; Leishman; S. Hamilton; Johnston; M. Hamilton. Unused Sub: Houston.
Referee: G. MacDonald.