Shippy storm back to take spoils.
The Shipyard staged a stunning fightback as they came from 3-1 down to beat Edinburgh United 4-3 in an enthralling encounter at Recreation Park on Wednesday night. It could have been a totally different result had United keeper Fraser Taylor not been in such magnificent form. The keeper must have made around a dozen saves as the Shippy peppered his goal and despite conceding four goals he turned in an outstanding performance as he almost single handedly kept the Shipyard out. The Shippy deserved their win, there can be no question about that, however, they made the fans sweat as it was a late quickfire double that finally settled the outcome. There were two changes to the Shippy team after Saturday with Mark James and Cammy Lewis coming in for Shaun Keatings and Ryan Watt.
The Shipyard fell behind in the 4th minute when Jack Wilson (not that one) headed home a Chase Miller cross at the back post. A Ben Anthony free kick was held by Taylor and in a rare error when the keeper was caught well off his line Dan Thomson could not get his long range effort on target. The Shippy were denied a penalty in the 22nd minute when the referee did not see a clear handball near the byline as the Shipyard pressed for an equaliser. A minute later CJ Thomson had a great chance to equalise but Taylor produced a stunning save to deny the midfielder who had found acres of space in the box. Lewis then blasted over following an Anthony cutback. The keeper was on hand again to block Lewis then just after the half hour he tipped a CJ Thomson strike onto the bar and over. The Shipyard were stunned to say the least as the visitors doubled their advantage when Josh Lamond seemed to get the last touch following a Callum Finnie corner.
The second half was only two minutes old when the Shippy pulled one back through Anthony who got clear of the United defence and calmly placed the ball behind Taylor. In the 49th minute a Harris Kay free kick was deflected, however, once again Taylor produced a great save as he managed to block the ball with his leg as a goal looked certain. Michael Gibb was the next to be denied and the visitors, against the run of play, broke up the park and regained their two-goal advantage as Lamond scored his second of the evening having been played in by Sulaiman Ashraf. Some teams’ heads may have gone down at this stage, however, the Shippy were undeterred and kept knocking on the door. Mark James saw his drive tipped over and Taylor then saved well again from Anthony. Lewis was replaced on the hour mark having given the visitors defence a torrid time, with his replacement Sandy Strang offering a more physical aspect. A few minutes later the Shippy made a triple change with Kearyn Hicks, Ryan Watt and Robbie MacAulay coming on for Kay, CJ. Thomson and Iain Millar. An acrobatic attempt by Gibb was saved before the Shippy pulled one back in fortunate circumstances. With the visitor’s defence under intense pressure a shot at goal was cleared off the line, however, the ball cannoned off Watt and into the back of the net. As the game entered the final ten minutes Taylor denied MacAulay and Watt in quick succession. United could not get out of their own half and eventually the pressure told when James headed home from a corner. The dust had barely settled and suddenly the Shipyard were ahead with Lewis Ross this time heading home to make it 4-3. The Shipyard contingent were ecstatic now and also relieved that the team had fought back so admirably. Deep into added time it was that man Taylor who fittingly gets the final mention with another good save, on this occasion thwarting MacAulay as he bore down on goal.
After the match assistant manager Fergus Lockhart Said “What tremendous fight and character the boys showed. It did not look good at 1-3 but they stuck at it a got the victory they richly deserved.”
On Saturday we welcome Tweedmouth Rangers to Burntisland for another league match. Kick-off is at 2.30pm.
Burntisland Shipyard: S. Costello; M. Gibb; L. Ross; H. Milne; I. Millar (K. Hicks); M. James; CJ. Thomson (R. MacAulay); H. Kay (R. Watt); B. Anthony; C. Lewis (S. Strang); D. Thomson. Unused Subs: M. Couser; R. O’Donnell; D. Pierce.
Edinburgh United: F. Taylor; C. Young; D. Paterson; C. Henderson; J. Wilson; C. Finnie; J. Lamond; H. Mutch; J. Keenan; S. Ashraf; C. Miller. Subs: D. Kelly; B. Woods; N. Drummond; J. Eagan; R. Ferguson; N. Denis.
Referee: R. Struthers.