Shippy suffer second four goal defeat in a row.
It was a case of déjà vu for the Shippy on Wednesday night as again missed chances and poor defending cost them dear. Manager Alex Lowe was forced to shuffle his pack with Andy MacDonald suspended and Graeme Haywood joining the injured list whilst Ben Couper dropped out of the starting eleven. Ethan Anderson, Pete Bell and Ben Saunders all started after being on the bench at the weekend.
It wasn’t until the 10th minute that a chance was created when Stewart Adams headed wide from around 10 yards. The Shipyard then started to create openings as Kevin Masson saw his shot parried away by Sean Diamond in the 15th minute. A couple of minutes later Masson saw Diamond off his line and his effort from half way had the Tynecastle keeper scurrying back to his line as the ball drifted wide. Masson was in the thick of the action and should have done better when Dale Robertson chested the ball into his path. The hosts took the lead slightly against the run of play when Adams gathered the ball outside the Shippy box and fired a great shot over Jordan Mushet and into the roof of the net. Robertson saw his shot blocked after taking a Brendan Napier pass in his stride and a Masson free-kick into the Tynie box was headed back across goal but any danger was thwarted by an offside flag. Adam Doig saw his shot held at the near post just a couple of minutes before half-time and as the half drew to a close Masson again almost opened the Shipyard account as he cut in from the right only to see his strike clear the bar.
Having created several chances in the opening period it was no surprise when the Shipyard levelled matters in the 48th minute. Ethan Anderson played a free-kick into the box and the ball fell to Robertson who took his time before slotting the ball beyond Diamond. Unfortunately for the Shipyard they could not stay level for long as seven minutes later Martyn Robertson scored with a fine angled shot. Any hopes of the Shippy taking something from the game were hanging by a thread as Adams crashed home from the penalty spot after Todd Arthur committed a rash challenge in the box and was cautioned for his troubles. Tynecastle unsurprisingly were now dominating the proceeding and Ryan Ferguson added a fourth goal when he converted a low cross from close range in the 66th minute. Robbie McIntyre added a fifth goal with two minutes remaining when he burst clear of the Shipyard defence and his shot went through Mushet and into the net.
Manager Lowe commented after the match “It is so frustrating that we keep on missing chances and losing soft goals. We were more than holding our own tonight, playing well against a good side and we should have went in at least level at half-time. Getting the goal at the start of the second half was no more than we deserved but unfortunately we were not able to build on it as we conceded within a few minutes. Once the penalty was scored we totally fell out of the match and Tynecastle were able to score a couple more and see out what should have been a close match far too easily”.
Tynecastle: S. Diamond; R. Hall; G. Jardine; R. Ferguson; W. Mitchell; D. Robertson; S. Coleman; R. Malcolm; S. Adams; M. Robinson; R. McIntyre.
Subs: M. Catlin; H. Crane; D. Munro; L. Ritchie; S. Crabbe.
Burntisland Shipyard: J. Mushet; B. Saunders (B. Couper); E. Anderson; T. Arthur; C. Lowe; D. Robertson; B. Napier (D. Anthony); E. Henderson; P. Bell; K. Masson; A. Doig. Unused Sub: JP McPhail.
Referee: R. Lee.