Late penalty sinks Shipyard.
We should have been talking about fine goals from Jack Wilson and Reece Brown instead of a red card to Shippy keeper Scott Costello. The big goalie unceremoniously brought down Brown outside his area and the resultant red card was quickly shown. However, the referee somehow missed a blatant offside in the build-up and allowed play to continue, resulting in the dismissal. A late penalty awarded to the Glens, converted by Graeme Walker, and a second yellow card shown to Darrell Anthony for his part in the incident summed up how the day went for the Shipyard. From the back of the stand there seemed to be little in the coming together but the referee thought otherwise and penalised Anthony for a tug of the shirt. Even before kick-off Shippy had a problem as they had to reshuffle their pack as Connor McManus felt his hamstring tight and Scott Orrock took his place in the starting eleven. There was a very healthy crowd inside Warout Stadium including a large contingent from Burntisland to watch this eagerly anticipated Fife derby.
The Glens started on the front foot forcing an early corner which was subsequently headed over and then Walker headed wide. When play switched to the other end Shippy took the lead with a great goal. Matty Miller powered down the right wing and when he crossed into the box Wilson bulleted home his header giving Adam Shaw in the Glens goal no chance. Just after the half hour mark Costello made two similar saves low to his left from Callum Kinnes and Brown respectively. Glenrothes drew level on the stroke of half-time when they were awarded yet another a free kick, this time just outside the box. Brown stepped up and curled a great strike into the corner with Costello left helpless.
The big talking point of the game came within a minute of the restart with the afore mentioned offside/red card incident. With Costello off Wilson had to be sacrificed to allow Michael Gibb to take over in goals, his first appearance of the season following his recovery from the broken ankle he sustained pre-season. Although Glenrothes had plenty of the ball in and around the Shippy area, Gibb was relatively untroubled other than saving a Brown strike and watching a Stephen King shot go wide. Shippy looked like they would see this out, however, the did not bargain for the referee giving the Glens a penalty for an innocuous challenge in the box. D. Anthony was sent off and when the dust had settled Walker calmly slotted the ball home to give his team the win. After the match manager Dave Costello said “They struggled to break us down when we only had ten men, so the game plan worked in that respect. I thought Rod and big Milzy were outstanding at the back, giving them very little opportunity. I can’t believe that Reece was not given offside in the build up to Scott’s red card but we just have to take it on the chin and move on.”
We do not have a match this Saturday with our next match scheduled to be away to Kinnoull on Saturday 2nd October. Our home match against Lochore Welfare has been moved to Friday 8th October with kick off at Recreation Park being at 7.30pm.
Glenrothes: A. Shaw; C. Kinnes; C. Lumsden; L. Grierson; M. Gibb; R. McInnes; R. Brown (L. Schiavone); K. Bell; G. Walker; S. King (D. Honeyman); F. Kay. Unused Subs: C. Richardson; E. McQuade; S. Russell.
Burntisland Shipyard: S. Costello; M. Millar; S. Orrock; R. O’Donnell; I. Millar (C. McManus); C. Watt (S. Strang); S. Keatings (J. Galloway); D. Anthony; B. Anthony; S. Glancy; J. Wilson (M. Gibb). Unused Sub: R. Gallacher.
Referee: S. Downie.