March 30, 2015 ·
Drew
·
2014/2015 Season, Match Reports
Shipyard suffer from lack of options.
The Shipyard headed to Kelso on Saturday again with a vastly depleted squad, as more of the current squad were missing than actually travelling. Two trialists from the EDU soccer academy helped out and the bench consisted of goalkeeper Jordan Mushet and manager Alex Lowe as a trialist. In what were far from ideal preparation for the game the Shipyard started with a back three due to lack of defensive options with the two French trialists taking up forward roles.Conditions were tricky with a very bumpy pitch and a strong cross wind blowing across the park, which led to a very poor 90 minutes from both sides. Continue Reading
March 22, 2015 ·
Drew
·
2014/2015 Season, Match Reports
Depleted Shipyard earn fine win.
The Shipyard took all three points in their first ever visit to Duns new home at New Hawthorn Park thanks to 2-1 victory. It was a vastly depleted squad that travelled to the borders with no fewer than seven players missing but with the aid of a few trialists, the Shipyard were able to field a team strong enough to get the win. In a game with plenty of goalmouth action the visitors would have been disappointed to only score two goals against a somewhat slow and cumbersome Duns defence, albeit at the other end Barry Thomson pulled off a few good saves to ensure his side got the victory. Continue Reading
March 16, 2015 ·
Drew
·
2014/2015 Season, Match Reports
Shipyard frustrated by missed chances.
Due to injuries to Alan Clark, Blair Smart and Kevin Masson the Shippy drafted in two youngsters from the Shipyard U16 team, Scott Costello and Luke Thompson, to fill up the bench. The Management team decided on starting with a back three of Todd Arthur, Craig Lowe and Jamie Bouhaddou due to lack of defensive options with Pete Bell as a holding midfielder. Continue Reading
March 9, 2015 ·
Drew
·
2014/2015 Season, Match Reports
No cup shock for Shipyard.
Two quick fire goals on the stroke of half-time put paid to the Shipyard’s chances of progressing in the King Cup, however, they competed well and put up a decent fight against the much fancied visitors, who currently top the East of Scotland premier division. Barry Thomson kept his place in goal with Jordan Mushet, returning from injury, taking a place on the bench. Adam Doig also returned from his dislocated shoulder but Blair Smart missed out having damaged ligaments in his knee. Continue Reading
March 1, 2015 ·
Drew
·
2014/2015 Season, Match Reports
Anderson settles the nerves while Napier seals the points.
The Shipyard travelled down the A1 hoping to put their recent run of defeats behind them. With Jordon Mushet still recovering from his injury and Quinn Franklin unavailable, Barry Thomson was called up to take over in the Shipyard goal. Although Thomson’s exposure to match competition has been limited in recent times he was not to let the Shipyard down. Blair Smart returned to the side after a six week absence relegating Ethan Anderson to the bench along with John Paul McPhail.
It was the Eyemouth side that started brightest, with some early pressure on the Shipyard goal forcing Thomson into action. It was the Shipyard, however, that had the best opportunity when Craig Lowe picked out Dale Robertson in the 6 yard box. His shot was diverted for a corner and from the set piece Brendan Napier fired in a shot that grazed the top of the bar. In the 14th minute Peter Bell was upended and from the resulting free kick, Eyemouth’s Gordon McInnes almost gave Shipyard the lead with a wayward defensive header. In 17 minutes Robertson gave Shaun Keatings a one on one opportunity but keeper Adam Mutch spread himself well to save the shot. Lowe was swift to follow up on the rebound and a desperate defensive tackle dropped him in the box leaving the referee with a simple penalty decision. Keatings stepped up to take the kick and calmly slotted home to give the Shipyard a 1- 0 lead. The Shipyard were having more attacking opportunities at this point although their level of possession was limited. Kevin Masson dispatched a fierce free kick on goal in the 24th minute and, as the ball reverberated around the outside of the Eyemouth woodwork the Shipyard bench celebrations were premature in thinking it was a goal. On 39 minutes an Eyemouth corner that was met with a great header on goal and only an amazing diving stop by Thomson kept his goal intact. With only two minutes remaining to the half-time whistle, Robertson made his way into the Eyemouth box and as he was halted, it was once again Lowe whose pace took the ball beyond the Eyemouth defence, only to find Keatings on hand to tap the ball home, as he set himself up for the finish. In the last minute of the half, Shipyard conceded a free kick and Sean Ford headed home. His celebratory actions resulted in a yellow card but gave the Eyemouth squad the lift they needed going in at the interval.
Eyemouth started the 2nd half in a confident manner and had all of the early possession and pressure. A ball floated in from the right found Alan Jess clear but his headed effort drifted over. The visitors were finding it impossible to settle and gain any sort of sustained possession. Eyemouth’s pressure was rewarded with several corners that caused defensive concerns for the Shipyard. On the 57th minute mark, Thomson did well to scramble the ball clear when it was floated into a ruck of players although he was awarded a free-kick for the challenges. Three minutes later Lowe was substituted and Ethan Anderson took his place on the right of mid-field. The Shipyard’s attacks were limited to the odd breakaways but each of these caused the Eyemouth side, committed to attack, problems. Robertson put Masson clear on the right but, unable to find his favoured left foot, his shot drifted wide of Mutch and the Eyemouth goal. Sean Campbell had a great chance to level the score but his shot went wide. Thomson’s blushes were spared in the 67th minute when he called for a ball inside the 6 yard box but allowed it to roll through his legs tantalisingly close to the goal line before being cleared by some desperate defending.
Coolly
The next spell saw sustained Eyemouth pressure and they were rewarded in the 74th minute when, from the inevitable corner the ball was headed back across goal for Ford to tap in his second goal of the game and give Eyemouth a further boost. Eyemouth’s Alan Jess and Scott Adamson made way for substitutes Patrick Tillbrook and Mike Milligan as Eyemouth looked to build further pressure. The Shipyard regained the lead through good work by the diminutive Robertson in the 76th minute. Battling through three strong challenges resulted in him finding Anderson in space on the right, Anderson controlled well, got himself into a one-on–one position and stroked the ball coolly beyond Mutch to give the Shipyard some much required breathing space. In the 82nd minute, as a frustrated Eyemouth continued to attack, Napier picked up the ball deep in his own half and made a 50 yard run past a number of challenges only to be finally upended illegally by Tillbrook, who was cautioned for his actions, some 20 yards from goal. Napier settled himself on the free-kick, took his time and placed his shot around the defensive wall into Mutch’s bottom left corner to restore Shipyard’s earlier two goal lead. Napier’s understandable but rather exuberant celebrations with his relieved team-mates earned the wrath of the referee which resulted in a caution. The Shipyard were happy to see out the remaining minutes. John Paul McPhail replaced an injured McDonald as the game entered four minutes of added time and the last chance fell to Sean Campbell of Eyemouth who shot over from 30yds.
Manager Alex Lowe seemed relieved to get the victory when he said “I am very pleased with the win against Eyemouth considering this was probably our worst display since I have taken over as manager. Positives from the game were that we scored four decent goals, two of which came from good runs from Craig Lowe ending in two goals for Sean Keatings, one good passing move resulting in a good finish from Ethan Anderson and a superb solo run from Brendan Napier leading to an equally superb free kick finish. Negatives from the game were that generally our passing was very poor, our energy levels seemed very low (with 2 or 3 exceptions) and the two goals we lost again came from our inability to correctly defend set pieces”. Alex had some sympathy for his opponents and words of caution for his players when he added “Eyemouth can be very disappointed they never took anything from the game as they were in control of the majority of the game, passed the ball better and missed a number of chances. We will need to play much better next week against Leith Athletic, the top team in the EOS league, in a cup tie at Recreation Park or it could end up being a severe beating”.
Burntisland Shipyard: B. Thomson; T. Arthur; A. MacDonald (JP McPhail); B. Smart; P. Bell; C. Lowe (E. Anderson); B. Napier; E. Henderson; S. Keatings; D. Robertson; K. Masson.
Referee: K. Lindsay.
February 16, 2015 ·
Drew
·
2014/2015 Season, Match Reports
Momentary defensive frailty costs Shipyard
With keeper Jordan Mushet still recovering from last week’s injury, Shipyard called up 18 year old Quinn Franklin to take over in goals against league leaders Peebles Rovers. Kevin Masson returned to the side after last week’s absence and 17-year old Ross Watt took his place on the bench.
There were early exchanges at both ends with Sutherland for Peebles just failing to direct his headed effort on target and Shaun Keatings and Ewan Henderson just failing to make the break-through for Shipyard. Peebles took the lead in the 18th minute when Flockart latched on to a long ball through the flat Shipyard defence and his shot entering off Franklin’s right hand post gave the keeper no chance. In the 26 minute Brendan Napier was involved in a freak incident when he was rendered momentarily unconscious when he fell onto a rising Peebles boot. He was unable to continue and the Shipyard were forced into a reshuffle with defender Alan Clark coming on and Craig Lowe moving into the midfield. In 36 minutes, some great work by Masson on the left set up a chance for Dale Robertson but the Peebles defence just managed to clear the danger. The play swung both ways and there was little to indicate which side were league leaders. The first half came to an end with good pressure form Shipyard with Ethan Anderson shooting over and a Keating’s free kick forcing Murray into action.
Peebles’ Rossi replaced Walker at half time. Franklin was called in to action early in the second half as he was forced to hold a high cross under pressure. As the game continued to flow from end to end, Henderson collected from a Peebles corner and his 60 yard burst into the heart of the Peebles area was only halted by a desperate tackle by Murray who was cautioned for his actions. In the 64th minute, a Peebles corner from the right found Richardson completely free but he failed to direct his header on target and the chance was lost. Two minutes later came the most controversial moment in the match. Under pressure from the keeper and two defenders, Masson was up-ended in the box. Strong claims for a penalty were waved away by the referee. Watt came on for Anderson with just over quarter of the game to go. His first touch put Masson clear but the referee adjudged him offside and the chance was lost. The Shipyard continued to press for the equaliser with a Clark shot beating the keeper but just grazing the top of the bar. The final minutes saw Peebles play out the time and Andy MacDonald was booked for showing some dissent.
After the match Shipyard manager Alex Lowe bemoaned his side’s misfortune when he said “I don’t want to keep on making excuses but we deserved at least a draw against league leaders, in a close fought, dour game. Areas of the game which we can certainly do better on were our passing and deliveries from wide areas. The number of clear cut chances created by both teams were low and we struggled to break down an organised and disciplined Peebles back line. The game may have ended in a draw had the referee not denied us an absolute stonewall penalty in the last few minutes of the game. We also defended well apart from one lapse which lead to the Peebles goal and young Quinn in goal dealt comfortably with everything thrown at him. The loss of Brendan Napier after 20 minutes also meant one of our more creative players missed the bulk of the game. We have been a bit unlucky the last two weeks and if we continue to apply the same effort I am sure our fortunes will change in the coming weeks.
Burntisland Shipyard: Q. Franklin; P. Bell; E. Anderson (R. Watt); T. Arthur; A. MacDonald; C. Lowe; B. Napier (A. Clark); D. Robertson; E. Henderson; K. Masson; S. Keatings. Unused Sub: JP. McPhail.
Referee: R. Thomson.
February 8, 2015 ·
Drew
·
2014/2015 Season, Match Reports
Shipyard out done by two late goals.
Once again the Shipyard were made to rue missed chances as Duns scored two late goals to secure an unlikely win at Recreation Park. The turning point was undoubtedly the Shipyard missing a penalty with twenty minutes remaining as Ewan Henderson saw his spot kick saved by Duns keeper Paul Tamsy.
Young Shippy forward JP McPhail was in the thick of the action early on as he headed over from a free-kick and then just failed to connect with a ball drilled across the six yard line. Duns began to get more into the match but by the twentieth minute neither keeper was having much work to do though Duns right back Mark Weatherburn might have done better after intercepting a poor pass from the Shipyard defence. In the 35th minute good work between Brendan Napier and Craig Lowe set up an opportunity for McPhail but he screwed his shot wide. The Shipyard were foiled five minutes before half-time when a Shaun Keatings shot, that looked to be heading for the top corner, was brilliantly saved by Tamsy at the expense of a corner. Dale Robertson and Henderson both looked to create openings but neither could find a telling ball. As the half drew to a close it was Duns who were applying a bit of pressure but again failing to trouble Jordan Mushet in the Shipyard goals.
The Shipyard were on the front foot at the start of the second half with Keatings prominent in any attacking moves but the pattern continued as a decisive pass or shot never materialised. The Shipyard were enjoying plenty of possession as they continued to attack and saw Robertson head wide, before Napier drove into the box but ran out of space. In a rare Duns foray into the Shipyard box Mushet had to be alert as he saved well from Jordan Lauder who had burst clear. The Shipyard were awarded a penalty kick in the 70th minute when Napier was scythed down as be burst into the box. Unfortunately for the homesters Henderson’s shot was weak and Tamsy saved easily, however, the danger was not cleared as the loose ball fell to Robertson but from close range he blasted over with the keeper still grounded. In the 72nd minute Stevie Shennan of Duns latched onto a missed placed pass but he fired his shot wide from a decent position. Minutes later Mushet raced from his area to clear a though ball and collided with the Duns forward. Both players went down after clashing heads and it was Mushet who came off worst with blood pouring from a nasty head wound. Mushet was replaced by fifteen year old keeper Scott Costello who unsurprisingly was making his Shipyard debut. Costello was called into action with six minutes remaining as he made a tremendous double save to deny Duns, however, the loose ball fell to the Duns forward and he was able to knock the ball over the line from close range. Duns added a second two minutes into added time when substitute Martyn Tait was afforded a free header from a corner at the near post and he made no mistake to seal the visitors win.
Manager Alex Lowe thought his team deserved more than they got out of the match and highlighted the crucial incidents that he thought turned the match when he said “I thought the boys played well today and definitely deserved at least a point from the game. There was some good passing moves throughout the game without a real cutting edge in front of goal. Two moments changed the game in Duns favour, the penalty miss for us when there was no score in the game and the injury to our goalkeeper which resulted in him having to go to hospital with a badly cut head. After this injury we lost focus for a ten minute spell and went two goals down. We had a lot of good performances in the game and the effort and commitment shown by the boys was very good. We need to keep this up for the rest of the season and hopefully this will yield more positive results.
Burntisland Shipyard: J. Mushet (S. Costello); C. Lowe; P. Bell; T. Arthur; A. MacDonald; D. Robertson; B. Napier; E. Henderson; E. Anderson (J. Bouhaddou); S. Keatings; JP. McPhail (A. Clark). Unused Sub: R. Hogg.
Duns: P. Tamsy; M. Weatherburn; L. Walker; S. McHoul; J. Ainslie; J. Brydon (M. Tait); M. Stewart; D. Chisholm; S. Shennan; J. Lauder; G. Wales (G. Waddell). Unused Sub: M. Robinson.
Referee: B. Cooper.
January 18, 2015 ·
Drew
·
2014/2015 Season, Match Reports
Ormiston prove to strong for Shippy.
The Shipyard lost out by the odd goal in seven as visitors Ormiston took all three points but once again the Shipyards inability to defend a lead cost them a victory. Despite being two up after twenty minutes the hosts let Ormiston score four unanswered goals and although the Shippy made it 3-4 late on, it was another case of what might have been.
The Shipyard got off to the prefect start by taking the lead with barely a minute on the clock. JP McPhail gathered the ball outside the box, engineered himself some space and drilled a low left foot shot in off the post. The visitors had more of the ball as the game progressed but Jordan Mushet in the Shipyard goal had little to deal with and it was the Shipyard who scored again when Kevin Masson fired home a free-kick from around 25yards in the 20th minute. Andy MacDonald was in position to head off the line as Ormiston sought a quick response while at the other end Masson drove forward but his shot lacked the power to trouble Ormiston keeper Ross Combe. The Shipyard lead was halved four minutes before half-time when Ormiston were awarded a penalty for handball against MacDonald. It looked more like the ball hit him rather the MacDonald playing the ball but the referee after a pause awarded the penalty. Craig Wojtowycz beat Mushet low to his left. Mushet then pulled off a decent save on the stroke of half-time to keep his side ahead at the break.
The Shipyard started the second half strongly and Brendan Napier saw his shot saved after being teed up by Masson. Masson was then unlucky in the 56th minute when his fierce strike was deflected onto the bar with the keeper beaten. Blair Smart was next to try his luck when he head flicked a lobbed ball into the six yard box from Dale Robertson over the bar with the keeper caught in no man’s land. The Shippy were made to pay for those misses when Ormiston equalised two minutes later. When the ball broke to George Cunningham outside the box he let fly and his accurate shot gave Mushet no chance. Cunningham then gave his team the lead when he netted from close range after Mushet failed to deal with an inswinging corner. The Shipyard defence did not learn their lesson as Ormiston scored an almost identical goal three minutes later. This time the ball sailed over the defence and Liam Skinner was on hand to nod the ball home. The Shipyard pulled a goal back with a couple of minutes left when Robertson got on the end of a flick on and beat Combe from six yards.
Manager Alex Lowe was disappointed with a number of things after the match when he said “This was the first game we have had since December 6th (If you exclude last week’s fiasco at Heriot Watt) when we played the same opponents, Ormiston, and once again we have lost by the odd goal. Ormiston are a big physical, intimidating side and we warned our players to attempt to stop the Ormiston players from getting crosses in to our box and not to defend too deep. We did this well in the first half and after scoring two good goals to go two nil up we were unlucky to give away a penalty just before half time partly due to not coming out quickly enough to attack the ball after clearing our lines. At half time we were 2-1 up and playing the better football. We started the 2nd half fairly well and both Kevin Masson and then Blair Smart were unlucky not to extend our lead before once again our inability to defend at a set piece cost us dearly by losing three goals from corners in a poor 15 minute spell”.
Alex was not overly impressed with the referee when he went on to add ”The game went a bit stale for the next 15 minutes apart from a few meaty tackles from the Ormiston players which were dealt with very leniently by the referee and then livened up a bit when Dale Robertson scored with around two minutes to go. We had a chance to level at four all but the referee called Ewan Henderson offside when it was clear to all in the ground he was onside”.
Alex said in his summing up of the match “this was a game we never should have lost and our inability to defend correctly at set pieces has cost us the game. All credit to Ormiston for playing to their strengths and beating us for the fourth time this season. I am certainly glad we do not have to play them again this season”.
Burntisland Shipyard: J. Mushet; C. Lowe; P. Bell (J. Bouhaddou); A. MacDonald; B. Smart; B. Napier (E. Anderson); D. Robertson; E. Henderson; S. Keatings (T. Arthur); K. Masson; JP. McPhail. Unused Sub: A. Clark.
Ormiston: R. Combe; J. Morgan; G. Gavin; R. Ferguson; Z. Szemis (R. Barker); D. Watson; G. Cunningham; L. Cockerell; C. Wojtowycz; L. Skinner (J. Edmond) K. Watson.
Referee: C. Wilson.
