Late goal secures vital win.
The Shipyard came from behind to claim a vital three points in their bid to climb away from the relegation zone as they beat Kennoway Star Hearts 2-1 at Recreation Park. A goal at the start and one at the end of the second half sealed the points for the Shippy in what was a tough bruising encounter between two teams desperate for the points. Shaun Keatings returned to the starting eleven replacing the unavailable Ryan O’Donnell in the only change from last week, though there were a couple of positional changes in the defence.
Unsurprisingly, there was not a lot of good football on show as both teams were nervous given the precarious position, they find themselves in. Also, the pitch was not ideal for free flowing football given the condition it was in. The first piece of meaningful action came in the 17th minute when Shippy keeper Scott Costello dived to his left to push away an angled shot. The Shipyard players thought Jack Wilson was fouled when he challenged Kennoway keeper Kyle Moran for a high ball outside the box, however, play continued and Sam Glancy saw his shot held by the keeper. A great pass from Sandy Strang sent Ben Anthony sprinting down the righthand side and when his cross came in Wilson could not direct his shot on target. The big striker then headed over from an Iain Millar long throw as the Shippy threatened. The visitors had created a couple of chances of their own, mainly due to some slack play in the home defence. The visitors took the lead a minute before half-time when the ball was played into Kyle Stark and he took the ball round his man before firing a shot from the edge of the box into the net. Although Costello got his hand to the ball the strike was too powerful for him to keep it out.
The Shippy were back on level terms two minutes into the second period when substitute Darrell Anthony played a ball down the channel to his brother Ben who broke clear, then cut back inside the defender and smashed a low shot into the bottom corner. Benji then had another chance two minutes later but this time Moran was able to stop his shot from a tight angle. In the 63rd minute a Glancy corner was flicked on at the near post by Wilson but no Shippy player could get on the end of the inviting ball across the six yard line. There were half hearted appeals from the Shipyard players when it seemed Moran has pushed Wilson as the keeper came out trying to win a high ball played into the area. Kennoway then spurned a great chance to regain the lead in the 82nd minute when substitute Jake Grady raced through and although he looked offside, he was allowed to continue and Costello was forced into a decent save from a not too well struck shot. A glorious chance fell to Darrell Anthony as the game entered the 90th minute when he gathered a ball played into the box, he turned and shot but from around ten yards he couldn’t get the ball on target as it flew over. However, the Shippy midfielder was not to be denied as he netted the winner two minutes into added time. Benji gathered a long ball played down the right and played in a low cross the Darrell gleefully knock high into the net from close range in the centre of the goals, much to the delight of the Shipyard players, management and fans.
After the match manager Dave Costello said “Obviously I am happy with the win. That has happened to us on occasions when we have conceded late on to lose the match. I think on the balance of play we deserved to win as we created a few decent opportunities.”
Next Saturday (18/02/2023) we travel to Warout Stadium to face Glenrothes in a league match. Kick-off is at the usual time of 2.30pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: S. Costello; D. Thomson; L. Ross; M. James (D. Anthony); I. Millar; C. Watt; S. Keatings (J. Galloway); S. Strang (C. Lewis); B. Anthony; J. Wilson; S. Glancy. Unused Subs: A. Brown; R. MacAulay; D. Pierce; S. Orrock.
Kennoway Star Hearts: K. Moran; J. Watson; W. Romanis; G. Allan; L. Young; A. Higgins; H. Kay; R. McGill; D. Walker; D. Nugent; K. Stark. Subs: R. Lemetti; J. McLelland; M. Black; L. Gartshore; J. Grady; B. Mair.
Referee: W. McAleese.