Shipyard out done by two late goals.
Once again the Shipyard were made to rue missed chances as Duns scored two late goals to secure an unlikely win at Recreation Park. The turning point was undoubtedly the Shipyard missing a penalty with twenty minutes remaining as Ewan Henderson saw his spot kick saved by Duns keeper Paul Tamsy.
Young Shippy forward JP McPhail was in the thick of the action early on as he headed over from a free-kick and then just failed to connect with a ball drilled across the six yard line. Duns began to get more into the match but by the twentieth minute neither keeper was having much work to do though Duns right back Mark Weatherburn might have done better after intercepting a poor pass from the Shipyard defence. In the 35th minute good work between Brendan Napier and Craig Lowe set up an opportunity for McPhail but he screwed his shot wide. The Shipyard were foiled five minutes before half-time when a Shaun Keatings shot, that looked to be heading for the top corner, was brilliantly saved by Tamsy at the expense of a corner. Dale Robertson and Henderson both looked to create openings but neither could find a telling ball. As the half drew to a close it was Duns who were applying a bit of pressure but again failing to trouble Jordan Mushet in the Shipyard goals.
The Shipyard were on the front foot at the start of the second half with Keatings prominent in any attacking moves but the pattern continued as a decisive pass or shot never materialised. The Shipyard were enjoying plenty of possession as they continued to attack and saw Robertson head wide, before Napier drove into the box but ran out of space. In a rare Duns foray into the Shipyard box Mushet had to be alert as he saved well from Jordan Lauder who had burst clear. The Shipyard were awarded a penalty kick in the 70th minute when Napier was scythed down as be burst into the box. Unfortunately for the homesters Henderson’s shot was weak and Tamsy saved easily, however, the danger was not cleared as the loose ball fell to Robertson but from close range he blasted over with the keeper still grounded. In the 72nd minute Stevie Shennan of Duns latched onto a missed placed pass but he fired his shot wide from a decent position. Minutes later Mushet raced from his area to clear a though ball and collided with the Duns forward. Both players went down after clashing heads and it was Mushet who came off worst with blood pouring from a nasty head wound. Mushet was replaced by fifteen year old keeper Scott Costello who unsurprisingly was making his Shipyard debut. Costello was called into action with six minutes remaining as he made a tremendous double save to deny Duns, however, the loose ball fell to the Duns forward and he was able to knock the ball over the line from close range. Duns added a second two minutes into added time when substitute Martyn Tait was afforded a free header from a corner at the near post and he made no mistake to seal the visitors win.
Manager Alex Lowe thought his team deserved more than they got out of the match and highlighted the crucial incidents that he thought turned the match when he said “I thought the boys played well today and definitely deserved at least a point from the game. There was some good passing moves throughout the game without a real cutting edge in front of goal. Two moments changed the game in Duns favour, the penalty miss for us when there was no score in the game and the injury to our goalkeeper which resulted in him having to go to hospital with a badly cut head. After this injury we lost focus for a ten minute spell and went two goals down. We had a lot of good performances in the game and the effort and commitment shown by the boys was very good. We need to keep this up for the rest of the season and hopefully this will yield more positive results.
Burntisland Shipyard: J. Mushet (S. Costello); C. Lowe; P. Bell; T. Arthur; A. MacDonald; D. Robertson; B. Napier; E. Henderson; E. Anderson (J. Bouhaddou); S. Keatings; JP. McPhail (A. Clark). Unused Sub: R. Hogg.
Duns: P. Tamsy; M. Weatherburn; L. Walker; S. McHoul; J. Ainslie; J. Brydon (M. Tait); M. Stewart; D. Chisholm; S. Shennan; J. Lauder; G. Wales (G. Waddell). Unused Sub: M. Robinson.
Referee: B. Cooper.