Woeful performance from Shipyard
Cupar had this game sewn up by half-time as the Shipyard gifted them four goals through some horrendous defending, in what was an overall woeful performance. As usual there was a few call offs due to one reason or another which left Billy Whitehead with only thirteen players to pick from. After all the recent heavy rain the pitch was in reasonable condition for the match.
A Wilson free-kick in the second minute caused a bit of panic in the Cupar box but, they managed to scramble the ball away. The Shipyard fell behind in the 11th minute when a corner from the right was not attacked at the front post and the Cupar player was able to knock the ball over the line from close range. Three minutes later it was 2 – 0 when Cupar scored an identical goal, this time it was Barry Sibanda who scored from close range. Andy Martin, who took a knock early on, produced a fantastic save to deny Cupar in the 25th minute with the defence then somehow managing to clear the ball. The Shipyard got back into the match in the 27th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Paul Wilson was upended in the box. Mark Brough converted the kick sending McEwan the wrong way. Brough was then in the thick of the action at the other end when he did well to block Boylan as he bore down on goal. Ferrier did well to get through a couple of tackles as he tried to engineer a shooting chance, however, he was crowded out. Cupar took three goals to one lead when Cook attempted a back pass, but only succeeded in finding Sibanda, who strode forward and lashed the ball beyond Martin. The Shipyard conceded another poor goal just before half-time when Williams dithered on the ball and conceded possession to Sibanda who completed his hat-trick with a well struck shot.
Martin did not re-appear for the second half as the knee injury he picked was troubling him. He was replaced in goals by Stuart Gray. Gray’s first piece of action was to pick the ball out of the net after Michael Reilly gathered a deep cross in plenty of space and was able to pick his spot. Substitute Tasker had chance just seconds after coming on, but after being set up by Ferrier he could not get a shot away. Gray pulled off a good save in the 70th minute when he parried the ball away and Brough was on hand to clear the rebound off the line. Sibanda scored his fourth and Cupar’s sixth when he received the ball from a throw-in in the centre of the box and hooked the ball into the net giving Gray no chance. Reilly completed the scoring for Cupar in the 80th minute with a great finish from 15yards. Manager Whitehead was very disappointed after the game saying “ Cupar came here up for it, looking to win the tie and did everything well. We simply never turned up”.
Teams: Burntisland Shipyard: Martin (Gray); Grieve; Brough; Williams; Whyte; Wilson; Hamilton; Cook (Tasker); Ferrier; Russell; Dow.
Cupar Hearts: McEwan; Fraser; Kane; McInroy; Nicoll; Sibanda; Boylan; Honeyman; O’Leary; Crawford; Reilly. Subs: Anderson; Gilfillan; Perez.
Referee: D. Campbell.