Young guns hit the mark.
The Shipyard eventually secured the points in this must win contest after coming from behind to beat Coldstream 3-1 at Recreation Park. Things looked bleak for the Shippy as the game approached half-time with the visitors well worth their one goal lead and the Shipyard showing no signs of posing a threat as they seemed to be suffering from a hangover following last week’s horror show. Within a couple of minutes, late in the first half, the Shippy lost the influential Shaun Keating to injury and then manager Dave Costello was shown a red card following a comment made by a spectator towards the referee. The official obviously thought the remark was made by a member of the technical area but he was guessing and found an easy scapegoat. This seemed to galvanise the Shippy and they were soon level and with a bit of luck could have been at least one ahead as the whistle blew for the break. There were several changes to the starting eleven as long term injured captain Iain Millar returned to lead the side with Keatings and Scott Orrock also recovering from injury. Darrell Anthony was promoted from the bench and Mikey Couser replaced the suspended Scott Costello in goals. The euphoria of the win was dampened with what looks to be a serious injury picked up by the tenacious Craig Watt. “Rooney” seemed to land awkwardly following an aerial challenge and was immediately replaced as his ankle swelled up.
Coldstream started the game on the front foot and dominated possession without creating much in the way of goalscoring opportunities, however, the pressure told and they took the lead midway through the half. Couser made an outstanding save at the expense of the corner and when the set piece was delivered Miguel Freire headed home, unmarked, from around six yards. The hosts were level in the 41st minute when Rhys Wardlaw gathered the ball at the corner of the box and his deflected shot left Coldstream keeper Elliott Turnbull helpless and lifted the spirits around the ground. Turnbull produced a great save to deny substitute Robbie MacAuley though the youngster would be disappointed not to find the net and another chance created saw the ball bounce back off the post as the match swung dramatically. Suddenly it was the visitors who were delighted to hear the half time whistle.
In the 52nd minute Wardlaw engineered some space at the edge of the area and smashed a thunderous drive off the underside of the bar with the ball then being cleared to safety. Couser had to tip a dangerous cross away as Coldstream were far from out of it at this stage. Visitors sub Stuart Briggs headed wide from a good position before the Shippy hit the front. With nine minutes remaining a forceful run by Wardlaw saw him burst clear of the visitor’s defence and he calmy dispatched the ball beyond Turnbull to give his team the lead. All the pressure was now on Coldstream to get back into the match but any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Cammy Lewis reacted to a mistake by Kieran Ingram, rounded the keeper and rolled the ball into the empty net to the delight of the Recreation Park crowd. The visitors didn’t give up and Ross Aitchison should have done better when a chance fell his way and deep into added time Couser was on hand to deny Briggs with a decent save.
Manager Costello said after the game “All that mattered was that we picked up the three points so I’m happy with that. We weren’t great for most of the first half but Rhys’ first goal seemed to settle us down. It looks like I will lose Rooney for the rest of the season, which is a big blow, however, we just have to keep going and move on to next week.”
Crosshill is the destination next Saturday as we face Lochore Welfare in what is another massive match. Kick-off at Central Park is 2.30pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: M. Couser; M. James; J. Wilson; L. Ross; I. Millar; C. Watt (R. Crichton); S. Keatings (R. MacAuley); D. Anthony; R. Wardlaw; S. Orrock (C. Lewis); D. Thomson. Unused Subs: R. Connor; A. Brown.
Coldstream: E. Turnbull; M. Freire; I. Gay; K. Ingram; C. Heugh; K. Bullen; G. Windram; B. Wright; R. Aitchison; T. Hume (S. Bonnington); T. Grey (S. Briggs); Unused Subs: M. Hall; K. Ainslie.
Referee: T. Kerr.