Rose bloom in second half.
The Shipyard fought manfully against conference leaders and possible title favourites Bonnyrigg Rose at Recreation Park on Saturday but no-one could deny that the visitors superior quality shone through in the end. That being said, it was not so long ago that the Shippy were embarrassed by the same opponents in the Scottish Cup, but with the whole playing squad and management team totally changed, that horror result was never likely to be repeated. Indeed it was not until the 78th minute that Bonnyrigg would feel the game was safe. The fact that the Shipyard’s leading goalscorers both had to be substituted in the first half due to injury certainly never helped the cause. The Shipyard were without the suspended Tam Graham and the unavailable Sam Glancy for the match.

The game started fairly even with both sides having good periods of possession. The first bit of goalmouth action came in the 12th minute when Macaulay Jarrett fumbled but recovered to save an effort on the Shipyard goal. Two minutes later Ross Lennie did well to clear with pressure on the Burntisland defence. The Shipyard’s Reece Brown was replaced by John Paul McPhail after sustaining an injury in the sixteenth minute. In the 19th minute a long Bonnyrigg clearance beat the Shipyard defence to set up Kyle Wilson but his effort on goal went straight into Jarrett’s arms. The Shipyard were not so fortunate two minutes later when a deep cross from the Bonnyrigg right was not dealt with and this time Wilson made no mistake as he directed a looping header beyond Jarrett. On the 26 minute mark a further injury blow for the Shipyard saw Jordan Galloway substituted by Scott Powrie. A good move on the Shipyard right set up Rab Kinnaird and though his effort in the 38th minute was goalbound, Powrie rammed the ball home to make sure the sides went in all square at half time.
The deadlock was broken in the 58th minute when Alan Horne directed his header across the Shipyard box and Steven Thomson was on hand to knock the ball home. The game began to turn more in favour of Bonnyrigg and they continued to enjoy more possession though the Shipyard worked hard to contain them. Keiran McGachie replaced Thomson in the 67th minute and four minutes later, he had two great opportunities to seal the game but his efforts both went wide of the Shipyard goal. Lee Currie settled things for Bonnyrigg with his well-placed free-kick beating the defensive wall and the goalkeeper from 25 yards, albeit the award of the free-kick in the first place was debatable. The Shipyard players continued to work hard to prevent more damage as the visitors continued to look comfortable in possession. A Kinnaird injury saw him replaced by Reece Bernard with 9 minutes remaining. McGachie was upended in the box as he headed towards goal in the 84th minute but Jarrett pushed the weak penalty effort by Neil Martynuik away for a corner. Bonnyrigg’s 4th goal came in the 89th minute when a long deep cross from the left was headed home by substitute McGachie.
Shipyard manager Grant Brough acknowledged the superior performance by Bonnyrigg but also praised his players for continuing to work hard in the game after losing three players to injury.

The Shippy are back in William Hill Scottish Cup action on Saturday (01/09/2018) as they make the trip to the Ayrshire coast to face Girvan FC. Kick off is 3.00pm.

Burntisland Shipyard: M. Jarrett, C. Simpson, D. Anderson, R. O’Donnell, R. Lennie, S. Strang, R. Kinnaird (R. Bernard), C. McAulay, R. Brown (JP. McPhail), Jon. Galloway, Jor. Galloway (S. Powrie). Unused Sub: P Bell.

Bonnyrigg Rose: M. Andrews, D. Brett, J. Brown, A. Horne, E. Moyes, N. Martynuik, R. Gray, J. Stewart, S. Thomson, L. Currie, K. Wilson. Subs: D. Hokins, L. Turner, K. McGachie, K. Young, K. Lough, B. Young.

Referee: J. Bell.