Shippy progress to next round of King Cup.
The Shipyard had to come from behind as they progressed to the second round of the King Cup beating Edinburgh United 3-1 at a windswept Recreation Park on Saturday. The elements had a huge bearing on the match as both teams struggled to make any headway against the strong westerly wind which was blowing straight down the pitch. Lewis Ross and Kris Murphy were unavailable due to illness and Kearyn Hicks joined the injury list following last weeks match against Easthouses. There was a debut for Evan Stanfield who signed for the Club midweek and he would have been delighted to get a goal on his first appearance.
The visitors took the lead in the 8th minute when Jordan Keenan headed home a Kieran Richmond corner though the Shipyard would be disappointed at the marking for the set piece. Shippy were getting forward but were making very little in the way of chances, however, an excellent low cross from Sam Glancy may have produced something had anyone been able to get on the end of it. Despite United having plenty of the ball and possession their main threat came from set pieces, however, the Shippy defence had learned their lesson after conceding the goal and they marked more tightly. Dan Thomson broke away from the visitor’s defence in the 42nd minute but could not get his shot away and the danger was cleared.
The Shipyard got the perfect start to the second period as they drew level within two minutes of kick-off. Stanfield picked up the ball some twenty yards from goal and his powerful strike found the bottom corner with United keeper Andrew Smith only able to look on. Shippy had their tails up now and never looked back as they set about winning the tie. Shaun Keatings tried his luck with an audacious lob that narrowly missed the target and in the 58th minute the United defenders threw their bodies in the way the Shippy tried to force the ball home. Keatings and D. Thomson both saw efforts blocked, however, United were unable to stem the flow and Keatings dinked the ball home following a good move down the righthand side. It soon became 3-1 as Glancy drove forward and smashed a left foot dive into the corner to give his team what turned out to be an unassailable advantage. Much like the first half it was more or less one way traffic with Mikey Couser having very little to do in the Shipyard goal while at the other end despite creating opportunities Shippy were unable to add to their tally.
Manager Lee Richardson was very pleased after the match when he said “It was always going to be difficult against the wind but other than the goal I don’t think we were unduly troubled as we defended very well. We were able to get on the front foot in the second half where we played some decent stuff, creating chances and taking three of them. I’m delighted for Evan to get a goal on his debut and be involved in a lot of the good things we did. I thought that everyone played their part today and we can be pleased with ourselves as we now look ahead to facing Stoneyburn next week.”
As the manager said we are at home to Stoneyburn in the 2nd round of the King Cup next week (10/02/2024) with the match kicking off at 2.30pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: M. Couser; E. Bauld; M. Robertson (R. Watt); I. Millar; M. James; S. Keatings (S. Costello); M. Gibb; CJ. Thomson; D. Thomson (H. Kay); E. Stanfield (C. Lewis); S. Glancy.
Edinburgh United: A. Smith; J. Wilson (N. Drummond); J. Keenan; C. Young; D. Waugh (E. Donaldson); M. Murray; K. Richardson; J. Adams (D. Paterson); T. Gill (J. Egan); L. O’Brien; H. Mackintosh.
Referee: K. Gibson.