No one would deny that Bonnyrigg deserved their victory and had they taken more of their chances it would have been by a wider margin, however, what was disappointing from the Shipyard’s perspective was the manner in which the four goals were conceded, which is unfortunately becoming a recurring problem. The fact that all the goals were gift wrapped will concern the Shippy management team, albeit they can take some encouragement from the dogged, determined and quality defending that kept the hosts at bay, particularly in the second half. Once again, the Shippy squad was depleted through injury and unavailability with Scott Hynd, Benn Hutchison, Sam Glancy and Dean Anderson all missing.
Ryan Adamson endured a difficult afternoon in Bonnyrigg.
The Shipyard got off to a disastrous start and it was one that keeper Ryan Adamson will want to quickly forget. An innocuous free-kick into the box should have been food and drink for the keeper but he inexplicably dropped the ball and Louis Swanson couldn’t believe his luck as he was left with the simplest of opportunities to open the scoring. The Shippy defence looked decidedly shaky and they could count themselves fortunate not to lose another following a scramble in the box after another mistake with 15 minutes on the clock. Adamson held a shot from Keith Lough before another defensive mistake led to the Rose doubling their lead with Lough lobbing the ball over Adamson. The Shippy keeper knocked away a headed effort from a corner but he was undone on the stroke of half-time as the Shipyard conceded another shocker. A long clearance from Rose keeper Michael Andrew’s sailed through the heart of the Shipyard defence and Lough scored a carbon copy of his first goal.
Bonnyrigg were denied a fourth goal by the width of the post before the Shippy had a spell of possession and created a couple of opportunities. Andy Watt burst clear but his strike lacked the accuracy to trouble Andrews. The big keeper was scrambling a couple of minutes later when Callum McAulay’s excellent cross was begging to be knocked home and he was thankful one of his defenders was able to clear at the expense of a corner. Arron Murrell saw his shot hit the outside of the post in the 61st minute, however, he was not to be denied his goal as it came two minutes later thanks to another howler. Murrell latched onto Reece Bernard’s poor pass back and strode forward before placing the ball beyond Adamson. McAulay drove wide for the Shippy and Kerr Young was just off target for the Rose following a free-kick. McAulay was then in the action in his own box as he cleared an attempt off the line. Watt missed a good chance for the Shipyard before the visitors scored a consolation goal in the last minute. Robbie Crawford showed great skill as he burst into the box and he set up substitute Reece Brown who finished from close range. At the end of the day it could have been a lot worse, that being said, better defending could have made the scoreline a bit closer than it was.
Reece Brown grabbed the Shippy’s consolation goal.
Next
Saturday (02/03/2019) the Shippy return to Recreation Park as familiar faces
Heriot Watt University visit for a King Cup 2nd Round tie. Kick-off
is 2.30pm.
Bonnyrigg Rose: M. Andrews, D. Brett (J.
Brown), N. Martynuik, K. Young, E. Moyes, A. Horne (L. Currie), L. Swanson, A.
Nelson, K. Lough, A. Murrell, R. Gray (L. Turner). Unused Subs: K. McGachie, J.
Stewart, B. Young.
Burntisland
Shipyard: R. Adamson, Jor. Galloway, R. O’Donnell, R. Lennie, S. Strang, R.
Bernard (C. Simpson), R. Kinnaird (R. Brown), Jon. Galloway, A. Watt, C.
McAulay, R. Crawford. Unused Subs: P. Bell & M. Jarrett.
Jonny Galloway converted a 93rd minute penalty to hand the Shipyard a most welcome and long overdue three points as Dunipace were beaten 3-2 at Recreation Park on Saturday. Having been two up midway through the first half the Shippy were pegged back to two each at the start of the second period and as both teams slugged it out in search of a winner, Galloway’s strike proved to be decisive and the timing of it ensured there was no way back for the visitors. Recent signing Scott Hynd missed out through a hamstring injury but the Shipyard squad was boosted by the addition of an experienced trialist striker who started the match.
Jonny’s penalty sends keeper the wrong way.
Like last week the deadlock was broken in the first few seconds, however, it was the Shippy who struck the first blow as Andy Watt and Trialist combined to set up Rab Kinnaird who took a touch before slamming the ball beyond Dunipace keeper Dylan Maclean to hand his team a dream start. Despite falling behind, Dunipace were putting pressure on the Shipyard defence and might have been disappointed they were not level given the chances they were creating. The Shipyard were more clinical and doubled their lead in the 23rd minute when Watt kept up his fine scoring run as he headed home from a corner to make it five goals in six appearances for the Shippy. Ryan Adamson held a headed effort from the visitors Steven Dymock before Robbie Crawford went agonisingly close with his angled left foot strike going narrowly wide. Adamson had Jordan Galloway to thank as he cleared the ball off the line after the keeper had taken the sting off a shot. The goal that Dunipace had been threatening arrived in the 41st minute when Greg McPherson outpaced the Shipyard defence and calmly placed the ball past Adamson.
Rab Kinnaird opens the scoring.
The Shipyard trialist did not reappear for the second half following a nasty foot injury sustained earlier and he was replaced by Reece Brown. The Shippy were stunned inside three minutes of the restart as McPherson produced another good finish and suddenly it was all square with forty odd minutes remaining. The game was becoming a bit stop start now as the referee seemed to be in his pocket for a yellow card every few minutes, some justified, some not and some maybe could have been a different colour. Adamson held a headed attempt from Aiden Stevenson in the 62nd minute and at the other end Watt’s shot was deflected into the arms of Maclean. The Shipyard survived a huge scare in the 72nd minute as the ref never blew for what looked an obvious offside and the three Dunipace forwards somehow fluffed their lines as a Shippy defender got a foot to the ball to concede a corner. There was a controversial moment in the 79th minute when Maclean raced from his goal and cynically took out Crawford at the corner of the box with the Shippy demanding a penalty and a red card with the Dunipace contingent relieved to see only a yellow and a free-kick at the edge of the area awarded. The Shipyard were now on top and looking the more likely and a sublime through ball from Reece Bernard almost found Brown, however, Maclean was alert to the danger and smothered the ball. Dunipace centre back Craig Hughes headed into the hands of Adamson in the second minute of added time and the visitors were to rue that miss as the Shippy grabbed a dramatic winner in the 93rd minute. Bernard played a great ball to Crawford who cut inside his marker before he was unceremoniously brought to the ground leaving the referee no option but to point to the spot. Once the dust had settled Jonny Galloway sent Maclean the wrong way as he coolly stroked the ball home amid jubilant scenes.
Watty heads home the second.
Next Saturday
the shipyard travel to New Dundas Park to face runaway conference leaders
Bonnyrigg Rose in what is sure to be a tough test for the shippy boys. Kick-off
is 2.30pm.
Burntisland
Shipyard: R. Adamson, Jor. Galloway, S. Glancy, R. Lennie, S. Strang, B.
Hutchison, R. Crawford, Jon. Galloway, A. Watt (R. Bernard), R. Kinnaird (C.
McAulay), A. Trialist (R. Brown). Unused Subs: M. Jarrett, R. O’Donnell, C.
Simpson.
Dunipace: D.
Maclean, C. Murphy, M. Galloway, R. Shanks, C. Hughes, S. McHaffie, G.
McPherson, G. Wright (C. Paton), S. Dymock (K. Stevenson), A. Stevenson, M.
Stowe. Unused Subs: J. Allan, Graeme McMillan, Gary McMillan.
It would be
fair to say that in the first round of matches against the big guns of the
league that the Shipyard gave a good account of themselves in the majority of
these fixtures. However, second time around the Shippy are struggling to lay a
glove on these teams and that was none more so in evidence than when they
travelled to Newtown Park to face Bo’ness United on Saturday. There was barely
20 seconds on the clock when the recalled Macaulay Jarrett was picking the ball
out of his net. Hardly the start that was needed with United having the strong
wind behind them.
There were Shipyard debuts for recent signings Scott Hynd and Benn Hutchison and the Shipyard were further boosted by the news that Robbie Crawford had signed an extended contract. That good news was countered by the fact that Dean Anderson, Reece Brown and Sam Glancy were all unavailable.
Robbie Crawford has extended his stay at Recreation Park.
The Shippy
were under the pump straight from kick-off as Bo’ness scored in their first
attack. Jarrett initially did well as he blocked Allan McKenzie’s effort but
the big keeper then found himself stranded out of position and McKenzie was
able to fire home from around twelve yards. Although Bo’ness had plenty of possession,
they did not create too many chances, however, it was again poor defending that
brought about their second goal. A cross towards the back post had the Bo’ness
players queuing up to score and it was McKenzie who grabbed his second as his
looping header beat Jarrett. The Shippy keeper did well to tip a Devon Jacob’s
free-kick over the bar that was swung in from wide on the left and McKenzie went
close to his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time as the Shipyard hung on.
Bo’ness coped
better playing into the strong wind and McKenzie got his third goal in the 57th
minute with another looping header that left Jarrett helpless. Four minutes
later Rab Kinnaird conceded a penalty and Brian Morgan confidently tucked away
the spot kick. Substitute Ryan Stevenson added a fifth in the 71st
minute before Andy Watt scored a consolation for the Shipyard with five minutes
remaining as he produced a fine finish, lofting the ball over Andrew Murphy
from outside the box. The sixth and final goal for Bo’ness in the 88th
minute was an absolute shocker as far as the visitors were concerned. A scuffed
corner was unbelievably allowed to trundle through the six-yard box where Marty
Wright, not believing his luck, was able to knock the ball in from close range.
Bo’ness
United: A. Murphy, D. Jacobs, I. Syme, R. Campbell, J. Macdonald, M. Gemmell, B.
Morgan (C. Comrie), C. Donnelly, N. Prentice (F. Keast), M. Wright, A. McKenzie
(R. Stevenson). Unused Subs: W. Snowdon, M. McMullan, A. Marshall.
Burntisland
Shipyard: M. Jarrett, R. O’Donnell, R. Kinnaird (C. Simpson), R. Lennie, S. Strang,
R. Bernard, R. Crawford, Jon. Galloway, S. Hynd, B. Hutchison, Jor. Galloway
(A. Watt). Unused Subs: R. Adamson, C. McAulay, P. Bell.
The Shipyard’s first visit to Tynecastle’s impressive new home at Meggatland ended in disappointment as the hosts took the points thanks to a 4-2 win. Although Meggatland is the home of Borourghmuir Rugby Club, the pitch was in excellent condition for this Conference B league match and the large size of the playing surface seemed to suit the Shipyard players. The Shipyard travelled to Edinburgh with a depleted squad, however, this did not have a huge effect on the team as those who took to the field gave a good account of themselves.
Robbie Crawford caused problems for Tynecastle defence.
The Shipyard were on top
in the early stages as they took the game to their opponents and in the 10th
minute a fine crossfield ball from Pete Bell found the impressive Robbie
Crawford who outpaced the home defence, though his cross was cleared for a
corner. The Shipyard took the lead from the set piece when Andy Watt was on
hand to lash the loose ball home from close range when Tynecastle failed to
clear the danger. Three minutes later a good Reece Bernard pass found Watt and
he almost got another but he was denied by his namesake, Tynecastle keeper Robert
watt, who held his strike. Tynecastle started to exert a bit of pressure on the
Shippy rear-guard as Ryan Adamson held a shot from Niall Kelly. Ryan Ferguson
then headed over from a corner. Tynecastle drew level just after the half hour
mark from the penalty spot as Adamson’s ill-advised rush from his line and
subsequent tackle on Calum Helm left referee Michael Addy with no option but to
point to the spot and Helm dusted himself down before beating Adamson from 12
yards. Jonny Galloway’s free-kick drifted wide as the visitors looked to regain
the lead, however, they were stunned three minutes before half-time when Taylor
Hendry gathered the ball at the edge of the box and placed his shot into the
corner of the net giving Adamson no chance.
The Shipyard were almost
level inside the first minute of the second half but Bernard’s drive shaved the
outside of the post. Adamson gathered a strike from Matthew Combe while a
minute later Kelly might have done better inside the Shippy six-yard box before
the danger was cleared. A free-kick to the Shipyard in the 62nd
minute almost produced a goal but Watt saved well at his near post from
Crawford after the ball fell to the Shippy winger. The youngster was in the
thick of the action a minute later and this time he was upended as he drove
into the Tynecastle box leaving Mr Addy with another easy decision to make as
he pointed to the spot. Watt converted with aplomb as he lashed the ball home
to make it all square with 64 minutes on the clock. A Callum McAulay 20 yarder
was on target in the 67th minute but a piece a bad luck shortly
after gifted the hosts the lead again. Bell rose to head clear a corner from
the left-hand side but unfortunately the ball came off the top of his head and
ended up in the top corner. This setback typified the luck the Shipyard are
having at the moment as they were on top prior to the unlucky own goal. A fierce
Bernard drive was brilliantly parried away by Watt as the Shippy tried to level
the match again. Tynecastle scored a fourth goal with six minutes remaining as
Calum Elliot played the ball to substitute Jordan Smith who had the easy task
of knocking the ball home from close range. Smith might have had another in the
dying embers of the game but he headed wide from the centre of the goals.
Tynecastle: R. Watt; D.
Greig; S. Lynch (A. MacDonald); R. Ferguson; M. Leslie; C. Elliot; N. Kelly (J.
Smith); C. Milligan; T. Hendry; M. Combe (M. Burgess); C. Helm. Unused Subs: M.
Torrance; C. Sutherland; C. Stokes; I. Moffat.
Burntisland Shipyard: R.
Adamson; R. O’Donnell; P. Bell; S. Strang; D. Anderson; R. Bernard; R.
Crawford; Jon. Galloway; A. Watt; C. McAulay; Jor. Galloway (R. Brown). Unused
Subs: S. Innes & M. Jarrett.
A late second half collapse saw the Shipyard slump to another home defeat as Crossgates Primrose ran out 5-1 winners at Recreation Park on Saturday. The Shippy led early on through a strike from ex Primrose player Andy Watt but the visitors levelled six minutes before half-time and once they forged ahead with 17 minutes remaining there was only going to be one winner as the Shipyard defence buckled under the pressure and conceded another three goals in the closing minutes. Dean Anderson and Ross Lennie made welcome returns for the Shipyard and with no suspensions there was more or less a full squad for Stuart to choose from.
Watty opens the scoring for the shippy.
Crossgates created the first chance but Scott Hynd headed wide and a couple of minutes later Ryan O’Donnell produced a fine clearance as the visitors threatened on the break. It was the Shippy who took the lead in the 9th minute when Watt converted a pass from Callum McAulay and he certainly enjoyed his strike against his former club. Crossgates had the lions share of possession but created very little in the way of clear-cut chances before Hynd equalised in the 39th minute. The Shipyard could not deal with a long throw into the box and the striker was able to hook the ball home from around six yards.
Shippy keeper Ryan Adamson punches clear.
A great break out of
defence from Lennie set up Watt, however, the Shippy man was thwarted by an
offside flag. Ryan Adamson touched a long-range effort wide and Crossgates
would have been disappointed to see a free header from a corner end up well off
the target. A great cross from Rab Kinnaird found Watt in the middle but the
big striker did not get a good enough contact on the ball and the opportunity
was gone. Crossgates took the lead in the 73rd minute with a fine
finish from Mark McKenzie as he converted a cross from the right-hand side. It
was more or less all over two minutes later when Adamson could only push out a
free-kick to the feet of Hynd and he made no mistake from close range. A Jonny
Galloway free-kick was not too far off target as the Shippy looked for a
foothold but it was Crossgates who scored again, this time from the penalty
spot through Scott Lawrie after a foul was committed at the corner of the area.
A late fifth through Blair Clark was harsh on the Shippy but Crossgates were
clinical, particularly in the latter stages as they look to gain a top five
finish.
Sandy Strang makes tackle with Leeds United spy lurking behind the goals.
Burntisland Shipyard; R.
Adamson, R. O’Donnell, S. Glancy, S. Strang, D. Anderson, R. Lennie (R.
Bernard), R. Crawford, Jon. Galloway, A. Watt, C. McAulay (Jor. Galloway), R.
Kinnaird (R. Brown). Unused Subs: P. Bell, C. Simpson, M. Jarrett.
Crossgates Primrose: G.
Henderson, D. Swan, B. Clark, M. Forbes, M. Wilkie, A. Moffat, M. McKenzie, D.
Aitken, S. Hynd, S. Lawrie, L. Shaw. Subs: D. Allan, K. Brand, B. Hutchison, G.
Nutt, B. Paterson, B. Penman.
The Shipyard
kicked off 2019 with a heavy defeat at the hands of Dundonald Bluebell at
Recreation Park on Saturday. The sickness bug that had affected the squad had
cleared but there were still five players missing from the squad due to injury
and suspension.
The Shipyard fell behind in the 11th minute thanks to a fine finish from Chris Gay that left Shippy keeper Macaulay Jarrett with no chance. It looked like it was going to be a busy day for the big keeper as he was called into action in the 14th minute to make a decent save following a scramble in the box. Dundonald’s second arrived in the 18th minute through Calum Smith after he rounded Jarrett and scored from a tight angle. Rab Kinnaird broke free of the visitor’s defence but he was tackled as he set himself to shoot from just inside the area. The Shippy were being pinned back by the more experienced Bluebell and it was no surprise when Archie Campbell scored a third in the 27th minute. The Shipyard were passing the ball around well but they could not penetrate the well drilled Dundonald defence and they added a fourth just before half-time when Smith was given far too much time and space inside the six-yard box as he turned and shot, leaving Jarrett helpless.
The Shipyard
enjoyed their best spell at the start of the second half and Trialist hit the
top of the bar with a speculative effort. Charlie Simpson saw a shot held as
the Shippy strove to get a foothold in the match but Dundonald were still
standing firm. The Bluebell made their quality show in the final fifteen
minutes as Smith helped himself to another two goals to take his tally to four
for the match and Lewis McKenzie added a seventh deep into added time.
The Shipyard
have a free week coming up which will hopefully see the injuries clear up, the
suspensions have now been served and hopefully a couple of new faces may arrive
before the Shipyard host Crossgates Primrose in another Fife derby on Saturday
19th January, kick-off is 2.00pm.
Burntisland
Shipyard: M. Jarrett, P. Bell, A. Trialist, R. O’Donnell, S. Strang, C. Simpson
(C. Simpson), R. Kinnaird (R. Brown), Jon. Galloway, A. Watt, S. Glancy, R.
Crawford. Unused Sub: R. Connor.
Dundonald
Bluebell: J. Lennox, S. Walton, R. Drummond, S. Durie, C. Wedderburn, C. Gay,
B. Rogerson, L. McKenzie, C. Smith, A. Campbell, M. Ness.
Manager brands performance unacceptable as Shipyard crumble.
Once more the Shipyard’s defensive frailties reared their ugly head as they conceded five without reply to Dunipace, who prior to kick off were below the Shippy in the Conference B table. An injury in the warm up to Dean Anderson, who pulled out with a knee problem, did not help matters as Stuart had to reshuffle the back four that had performed so admirably last week against Cowdenbeath in the Fife Cup. Scott Powrie took Anderson’s place in the starting eleven but unfortunately Ross Lennie had not recovered from the hamstring injury he picked up nine days ago. Continue Reading
The holders of the Fife Cup were knocked out of this season’s competition in unfortunate circumstances as a freak goal was all that separated the sides. The Shipyard deserved to take the tie to penalties or indeed win it inside the ninety minutes as they more than matched their League two opponents. This was a far stronger Cowdenbeath team than the one that was thrashed in last season’s final, nonetheless, the Shippy were as good as the opposition and for spells played the better football. Reece Bernard was the only regular squad man missing and there was the welcome return of Sam Glancy.
Cowdenbeath had the initiative in the early stages, however, the Shippy were defending well and not allowing any chances to be created and Keeper Ryan Adamson when called into action, held a low shot comfortably. Rab Kinnaird had an attempt on target before the Shipyard were dealt a major blow in the 17th minute when Ross Lennie limped off with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Charlie Simpson. Robbie Crawford had two strikes at goal in as many minutes, one on target and one off as the Shippy shrugged off the loss of the influential Lennie. There was a scare for the visitors as a scramble developed in their box but the ref blew for an infringement by a Cowden player and the danger was averted. Crawford was just off target with another strike as the Shippy played some good football before it was Cowdenbeath’s turn to suffer an injury blow as Martin Scott had to be replaced by Blair Malcolm. Cowden took the lead in the 31st minute and it was one that keeper Adamson will want to forget in a hurry. He took a passback but dithered on the ball and his attempted clearance hit Josh Kelly and spun into the unguarded net for truly freak goal. This setback did not deter the Shippy and they deservedly got back on level terms on the stroke of half-time with a fine goal. Reece Brown showed his pace down the right-hand side and when he delivered an excellent cross Kinnaird was on hand to knock the ball beyond Ryan Goodfellow from close range.
The Shippy started the second half on the front foot and Brown forced Goodfellow into a fine save. A Crawford cross couldn’t find a Shippy touch and a thunderous half volley from Simpson brought out the best in Goodfellow. Adamson held a Skelly shot and Jordyn Sheerin twice went close as Cowden enjoyed a spell on top. The Shipyard almost went ahead in the 79th minute when what looked like a combination of the bar and Goodfellow’s glove kept out Kinnaird’s cross cum shot. Cowdenbeath scored what turned out to be the winner with seven minutes remaining after Malcolm worked his way down the left-hand side and his cross beat the diving Adamson and fell to Robbie Buchanan who hit the ball into the roof of the net at the back post. The Shippy pushed for a late equaliser that would have taken the tie to penalties, however, it was not to be as the Shipyard’s dream of retaining the Fife Cup perished in the rain at Central park.
Cowdenbeath: R. Goodfellow, K. Sneddon (J. Talbot), H. Swann, J. Pyper, P. Scullion, H. Kay (K. Miller), J. Skelly, G. Fraser, J. Sheerin, M. Scott (B. Malcolm), R. Buchanan. Unused Subs: K. Renton, F. Mullen, D. McGurn, D. Marsh.
Burntisland Shipyard: R. Adamson, R. O’Donnell, S. Glancy, S. Strang, D. Anderson, R. Lennie (C. Simpson), R. Crawford, Jon. Galloway, R. Brown (Jor. Galloway), C. McAulay, R. Kinnaird (S. Powrie). Unused Subs: P. Bell, A. Trialist, M. Jarrett.
Referee: C. McNab.
