Shippy progress in cup after dramatic match at Treaton Park.
The Shipyard made heavy weather of it before finally seeing off Kennoway Star Hearts 3-2 after extra time to book a place in the 2nd round of the King Cup where a home tie against Bathgate Thistle awaits.
This cup tie had everything! Two red cards, two penalties, five goals and more yellow cards than you could shake a stick at. How many of the cards and penalties were merited was open to debate, however, you could argue that the controversial decisions added to the spectacle of the match. Daniel Brockie, Matty Robertson, Mark James, Dan McBay and Ben Anthony all returned to the starting eleven with Blair Kerr and Craig McBay taking places on the bench. Liam Taylor and Darrell Anthony remained sidelined through injury.
The hosts had the first opening when Shipyard defence failed to deal with a through ball, however, Ryan Couser was sharp off his line to avert the danger. In the 16th minute Cammy Bell and Ben Anthony combined at a free kick but Kennoway keeper Ben Duffield was alert to the danger and saved the cross. Duffield blotted his copybook three minutes later as the referee had adjudged that he had fouled Mikey Gibb as the Shipyard forward burst into the box. Anthony stepped up and scored from the spot to give Shippy the lead. Kennoway were reduced to ten men in the 25th minute when the referee took exception to being encouraged to hurry the match up by Grant Allan. Shipyard capitalised on their extra man immediately as Duffield could only parry Bell’s shot and Tony McAndrew was on hand to knock the ball home from close range. Anthony fired a free kick into the side netting and saw a rising drive held by Duffield at the second attempt. In between those two efforts Sean Johnstone flashed a shot across the face of the Shipyard goals.
Elliot Jowitt replaced the injured Brockie early in the second half and in the 53rd minute Gibb shot wide of the target from a tight angle. KSH started to enjoy a spell of pressure as Couser held a Ronnie McGill headed effort. A free kick was deflected wide before Kennoway were awarded a penalty, with no one really knowing why. We later found out that Ethan Bauld was penalised for allegedly holding his opponent at a corner. Dylan Walker netted to bring his team right back into the match. Shipyard started to regain some control of the match again and some good build up ended with the ball being scrambled away for a fruitless corner. An Anthony cross was deflected into the path of Gibb; however, he failed to make good contact and Duffield saved easily. Shippy were shocked as the match moved into added time as Kennoway sensationally equalised when Walker capitalised on some poor defending to slot the ball beyond Couser. Kennoway were reduced to nine men when Dale Prattis was unable to continue after picking up an injury and by that stage KSH had used all their available substitutes.
Unsurprisingly, Shipyard dominated extra time with a two-man advantage and shooting down the hill. D. McBay had a shot saved and James headed over from a corner before D. McBay Headed in a Gibb cross to give his side the lead again. Gibb shot straight at the keeper before Shipyard went down to ten when substitute Blair Kerr picked up a second yellow card for winning the ball, too aggressively apparently. The last few minutes passed without any real action as Shipyard were able to retain possession and keep Kennoway at arm’s length.
Manager Lee Richardson was not too impressed after the match when he said “We should have won that at a canter by creating and taking more chances. There is nothing we can do when penalties like that are given, however, their equaliser should have been defended much better. We are into the next round and at the end of the day that’s all that matters.”
Next week we host Easthouses Lily in the league with the match kicking off at 2.30pm.
Kennoway Star Hearts: B. Duffield; C. Barney (A T. Sweeney 87’); A. Cameron; L. Young; D. Prattis; G. Allan; D. Walker; S. Johnstone; L. Bennett (D. Nugent 77’); C. Hutchison (L. Black 46’); R. McGill (L. Gartshore 77’).
Burntisland Shipyard: R. Couser; D. Brockie (E. Jowitt 51’); M. Robertson; E. Bauld; I. Millar; M. James (K. Beard); C. Bell (B. Kerr); D. McBay; B. Anthony; T. McAndrew (J. Galloway); M. Gibb. Unused Subs: K. Crielly; C. McBay; K. Ritchie.
Referee: R. Bowie.