Peebles punished by ten man Shippy.
A superb second half display from ten man Shippy blew Peebles Rovers away at Recreation Park on Saturday. Despite having Matty Robertson sent off seconds before half time, the Shipyard players simply rolled up their sleeves and fought tooth and nail to gain, at the end of the day, a very much deserved win. There was no doubt that the visitors were the better team in the first half, however, a possible sense of injustice galvanised Shippy and a sensational hat-trick from Michael Gibb saw Shipyard win somewhat comfortably when the dust had settled. It was a much changed Shipyard that took the field following last week’s cup match with Daniel Brockie, Mark James, Darrell Anthony, Ben Anthony, Blair Kerr, Kierren Ritchie and Elliot Jowitt all dropping out through injury or unavailability though Kerr and Ritchie were on the bench. Robertson, Ellis McQuade, Tony McAndrew and Jordan Galloway were all promoted from the bench and there was a start for trialist Stuart Forster.
Peebles started brightly and were passing the ball well and stretching the Shippy defence and an early attack caused some panic at the back before the ball was scrambled clear. Balls over the top were also causing problems, however, nothing seriously troubled Ryan Couser in the Shipyard goals. A short corner was worked to Forster and his driven shot was parried away by Peebles keeper Jordan Moffat. A dangerous ball into Shippy’s box was cleared and at the other end Kris Murphy’s angled shot was not too far away. A Dan McBay shot was pushed out by Moffat before the game blew up shortly before the interval. A Rovers free kick was blocked and the loose ball was then headed onto the roof of the net amid a ruck of players. It was difficult to see what sparked the incident that followed but Peebles player Jamie Mackay was on the ground kicking out at Shipyard players. Nearly every player was involved, including Moffat who ran the whole length of the pitch to take part. There were several cards shown including a red for Robertson, however, how no Peebles player saw red was quite frankly astonishing, with only Mackay receiving a yellow for his part in the melee.
Manager Lee Richardson sacrificed Forster to bolster his defence as he introduced Craig McBay as a direct replacement for Robertson. Despite having a numerical advantage, the visitors were not troubling Couser and it was Shippy who looked more dangerous going forward. Moffat pulled off a decent save from a left foot Gibb shot after 62 minutes but a minute later Gibby broke the deadlock as he burst forward and drove the ball into the net. Kerr came on for McAndrew in the 66th minute and he had an almost instant impact as three minutes later he created the second goal. Kerr gathered the ball on the halfway line and he drove forward and delivered a cross that was just begging to be netted and Gibby duly obliged scoring from around six yards. Kerr might have had a goal himself after he burst clear of the Rovers defence, however, the young midfielder shot narrowly wide. Richardson had introduced youngsters Jack Hopton and Ryan Sharp with the former giving the visitors something different to think about with his direct running and a good run saw his shot saved by Moffat. Another short corner from Shippy saw the ball worked to D. McBay but unfortunately his strike flew over. With a minute remaining Gibb completed his hat-trick as he broke clear from halfway and kept his composure before driving the ball into the corner of the net.
Richardson said after the game “We did not press them well enough in the first half and didn’t get our tackles in, that being said, I didn’t think that they created much in the way of chances.” When asked about the turnaround after the interval he said “We had a bit go at them in the dressing room, asking for more as we were a man down and needed to be sharper. And what was a tremendous second half performance we got, especially given we only had ten men. You would never have thought it though as we created a good few chances. I’m delighted for Gibby. He’s had a slight injury recently but he never let it hamper him as he covered every blade of grass.” He went on to say, “The young boys also did themselves proud with their contribution to the team after coming on, in what was quite a feisty encounter.”
Next week we travel to Hermand Park to face West Calder United for another league fixture. Kick-off is at 2.30pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: R. Couser; M. Robertson; E. McQuade; K. Crielly; I. Millar; D. McBay; T. McAndrew (B. Kerr 65’); J. Galloway (R. Sharp 80’); K. Murphy (J. Hopton 70’); S. Forster (C. McBay 46’); M. Gibb. Unused Subs: O. Farley; S. Strang; K. Ritchie.
Peebles Rovers: J. Moffat; C. Riddell; B. Brown; K. Kivlichan; S. Inglis; S. Robertson; J. Mackay; N. McDonald; M. Joyce; S. Latto; F. Stewart. Subs: S. Taylor; G. Lamb; L. Maclean; H. McGill; J. Dodds; C. Robertson.
Referee: M. Walsh.