Manager left frustrated by poor performance.
The Shipyard turned in a very poor performance as Craigroyston cruised to a comfortable 5-1 victory and took another step towards the title despite going behind in the first couple of minutes. After running Craigy close last week, hopes were high of a possible upset but that was never to materialise as Craigroyston dominated for long spells and fully merited their win. Pete Bell was unavailable due to work commitments and was replaced by the returning Brendan Napier in the only change from Saturday’s trip to Selkirk.
After an early scare when Mikey Couser watched a looping cross hit the top of the crossbar the hosts stunned Craigroyston by taking the lead in the 2nd minute and it was a disaster for keeper Stuart Burnside. He made a total hash of dealing with a pass back and it left Dale Robertson with the simple task of rolling the ball into the net. Errol Douglas broke clear of the Shipyard defence but Couser was up to the task and pushed the ball away at the expense of a corner. From the corner Douglas again went close when his shot from six yards cleared the bar. Craigy drew level in the 12th minute when Bryan Wilson took a pass just inside the box and drove an angle shot into the bottom corner. Couser held a twice taken free-kick from Steven Moncur before the visitors scored twice in as many minutes. Douglas ran onto a through ball in the 28th minute and produced a composed finish to beat Couser from twelve yards and then Moncur was on hand at the back post to head in from close range from a free-kick delivered from the left-hand side. Mark Hendrie shot narrowly wide for the visitors as did Kevin Masson for the home team.
Robertson shot over from the edge of the box when a corner was cleared to him as the Shipyard had the first opportunity of the second half. However, Craigroyston were soon back on the attack and Liam Young volleyed over at the back post. Another goal did arrive two minutes later and it was that man Hendrie, who broke the Shipyard hearts last week, who netted when he shot home from inside the area. The Shipyard then had a brief period of pressure when Burnside again looked dodgy as he tipped away a long range effort from Stevie Connor. When the resultant corner came in Craigy were happy to scramble the ball off the line and clear the danger. Gavin Bridges should have pulled a goal back for the hosts when he headed wide from close in when he got on the end of a Connor corner. Craigroyston completed the scoring in the 81st minute when Substitute Scott Ritchie scored with almost his first touch when his low drive from 25 yards went in off the post despite a despairing dive from Couser.
After keeping his players in the dressing room for a good half an hour after the match an angry Myles Allan emerged to say “Tonight was as easy a three points as I’m sure Craigroyston have had all season. It was clear who were hungrier and we just didn’t compete at any point in the game. We were second to everything and seemed happy just to be there to make up the numbers”. He went on to add “Every player who played tonight is capable of so much more and that’s what is frustrating. I could accept it if they gave 100% but just fell short, like the last game against them. But tonight was embarrassing and I get the feeling that the players were embarrassed after their performance. They have two games left before the end of the season and I’m hoping that the performances will be an improvement on tonight”.
Teams: Burntisland Shipyard: Couser; Crombie (Peoples); Connor; Bridges; McKay; Henderson; Grubb (Tabengwa); Innes; Masson; Napier; Robertson. Unused Subs: Grieve; Nedialkov; McCrindle.
Craigroyston: Burnside; Young; Campbell; Greenhill; Jeffrey; Anderson (Ritchie); MacIntosh; Hendrie; Douglas (Lynch); Moncur (McCormack); Wilson. Unused Subs: Barbirou; Addison.
Referee: M. Gill.