Stalemate for Shipyard at Star.
The Shipyard and Kennoway played out an uninspiring goalless draw at a cold Treaton Park on Saturday. Chances were at a premium with both defences repelling nearly everything that was thrown at them and when a golden chance fell to Kennoway they were unable to capitalise as Dylan Walker smashed a penalty off the bar. The Shippy starting eleven showed no fewer than five changes from last week’s horror show against Thornton with Mikey Couser, Michael Gibb, Matty Robertson, Harris Kay and Boyd Dickson all coming in.
Shippy had a chance after five minutes, however, Kris Murphy couldn’t find the target with his left foot strike and at the other end Walker also failed to hit the target from a good position. Couser tipped a cross over the bar rather than attempting to gather it with Kennoway players waiting to pounce. Murphy and Dan Thomson both saw attempts blocked when the hosts defence got in a bit of a tangle at the edge of their area with 27 minutes on the clock. Kennoway then had a spell of pressure as they forced several corners and kept the Shippy pinned back the visitor’s rear-guard stood firm and indeed almost caught Kennoway on the counter as Sam Glancy burst forward but his shot across the keeper drifted wide of the far post. Kennoway’s Sean Johnstone might have done better with a headed effort from a corner and Couser tipped over a Liam Gartshore shot as half-time approached.
There was a lot less goalmouth action in the second half with it taking until the 66th minute for a chance, as Shaun Keatings wriggling free but he also failed to hit the target. A minute later Kennoway were awarded a penalty when the referee penalised Kearyn Kicks for his challenge on Walker. Despite Hicks’ protestations it was probably the correct decision. Walker stepped up and crashed his strike off the crossbar and when he was next to touch the ball the referee correctly blew his whistle and awarded an indirect free kick to the Shipyard. The Kennoway forward seemed to be frustrated with his miss as his challenge soon after on Kay merited more than the yellow card he was shown. A red card was shown to the Shippy trialist substitute for something he said to the referee as he disputed a decision. Keatings had a late chance to win it for the Shippy, however, a slight deflection took his shot away from goal at the expense of a corner.
Manager Lee Richardson said after the match “We defended a whole lot better than we did last week, which wasn’t too difficult to be honest but, I have to be pleased with that. We didn’t create too much going forward, though we might have done better with the opportunities that came our way.”
Next Saturday (20/01/2024) we welcome Edinburgh United to Recreation Park for a King Cup 1st Round tie with the match kicking off at 2.30pm and played to a finish.
Kennoway Star Hearts: K. Moran; D. Meldrum; M. Wilson; G. Allan; L. Young; A. Higgins; L. Black; L. Gartshore; D. Walker; S. Johnstone; E. Wilson. Subs: J. McLelland; R. McGill; D. Nugent; L. Bryce; E. Stanfield.
Burntisland Shipyard: M. Couser; M. Gibb; M. Robertson (I. Millar); E. Bauld; K. Hicks; H. Kay; B. Dickson (L. Ross); S. Glancy; K. Murphy; S. Keatings; D. Thomson. Unused Subs: S. Costello; C. Lewis; A. Trialist.
Referee: W. McAleese.