Shipyard record another “home” win.
Despite the unfamiliar surroundings of Bayview Stadium, the Shipyard players certainly felt at home as the saw off rock bottom Tweedmouth Rangers, although for periods of the second half they made heavy weather of it as the visitors twice got back into the game to make things a lot less comfortable for the Shippy as they should have been. It was a severely depleted Shipyard squad that was named for the match with Brian Breen, Sam Glancy and Rab Kinnaird all suspended. Add in the injured Brodie Hamilton and the unavailable trio of Johnny Galloway, Lee Halpin and Ryan Connor to the list of personnel missing, it left manager Grant Brough with a headache he could have done without.
The Shipyard were dominant from the outset with Reece Brown and Tom Graham both missing chances before they somewhat inevitably took the lead in the 10th minute. After good build up down the right-hand side, Brown crossed for Sean Johnstone who had the easy task of knocking the ball home from three yards out. Six minutes later it was 2-0 when Graham rose to head home Callum McAulay’s corner. Rangers keeper Stuart Allan had to look lively to claw away Graham’s cross cum shot as it looked to be heading for the top corner. Shippy keeper Ryan Adamson saved for the first time in the 26th minute when he got down to hold Regan Graham’s effort. However, the action soon returned to the other end as John Martin headed over another McAulay corner. The diminutive McAulay was running the show in the middle of the park and he saw his strike held by Allan as he looked to add a third. Another fine piece of play presented Ryan O’Donnell with a chance but Allan blocked his drive as the youngster burst into the six-yard box. A Martin left footed free-kick was not too far away before the Shippy went three up five minutes before half-time. Johnstone’s pass found Graham who shot for goal and when Brown got a toe on the ball it was enough to deceive Allan and find the back of the net.
Reece Brown’s penalty finds the net.
Martin flicked an effort just wide at the start of the second period and Adamson saved low down from the visitor’s number 15 William Lawrence. The Shippy then had a sustained spell of pressure around the Tweedmouth box but their defence stood firm and in the 61st minute they shocked the hosts by pulling a goal back, albeit, through some poor Shipyard defending as Adamson and his mates got into a bit of a fankle, presenting Lawrence with the opportunity to knock the loose ball into the unguarded net. Graham broke clear of the Rangers defence but his shot lacked the power to beat Allan. Brown set up a chance for sub Jordan Galloway but he was blocked in the act of shooting. Graham then had a header cleared off the line with the keeper beaten while at the other end Lawrence’s pace was troubling the Shipyard defence and Adamson saved well to deny the striker a second goal. The Shipyard made the game safe in the 83rd minute when Brown confidently stroked home a penalty after he had been brought down in the area, however, Tweedmouth rallied again as they reduced the deficit when Graham capitalised on more poor defending as he fired the ball into the corner of the net. The Shipyard finally killed Tweedmouth off when McAulay rounded off a fine personal performance when he blasted a volley home from around 12 yards after the ball had fell kindly for him.
Burntisland Shipyard: R. Adamson, R. O’Donnell, P. Bell, R. Lennie (S. Powrie), D. Anderson, S. Strang, R. Brown, T. Graham (J. Galloway), J. Martin (S. Brough), C. McAulay, S. Johnstone. Unused Sub: C. Anderson.
Tweedmouth Rangers: S. Allan, R. McLeod, R. Aitchison, K. Cromarty, K. Murray, J. Moore, D. Boyne, R. Graham, M. Robinson, K. Binning, W. Lawrence. Subs: A. Ferrier & D. Lowe.
Referee: B. Cooper.