Shipyard in five star show.
A first half hat-trick from Paul Ferrier ensured the points were staying at Recreation Park as the Shipyard dominated for most of the match and put Saturday’s poor performance behind them. As usual with a midweek fixture, getting enough bodies was the problem and the Shipyard had veteran Mark James as one of only two substitutes. Gray continued in goal and Gear made his first start for the club whilst Lamont started in the midfield.
As referee Neil Martin Blew for kick-off, that seemed to be the cue for the downpour to start and once the hailstones abated it was only heavy rain the players had to deal with. Lamont and Grieve both had early attempts at goal that did not trouble Clements in the Hearts goal. However, he was helpless in the 10th minute when Paul Ferrier received a pass from Hamilton and lobbed the outrushing Clements for a fine goal. The Shipyard defence got into a bit of difficulty from a hearts corner, though they managed to scramble the ball away. In the 20th minute Hamilton set up Dow inside the box, who saw his first time shot slip wide. Ferrier shot wide after making himself some space in the box and in the 30th minute Gear might have opened his Shipyard account, but dragged his shot wide when through on the keeper. It was one way traffic at this stage and it was no surprise when the Shipyard scored again. Paul Ferrier received the ball midway inside the Hearts half and strode forward before smashing the ball low past Clements. A minute later it was 3 – 0 as Paul Ferrier completed his hat-trick with a cool finish after being set up by Hamilton again. Mark Hamilton had been pulling the strings throughout the half but in the 40th minute it was his turn to find the net when his left foot strike from the edge of the box found the corner of the net. Hearts rallied briefly towards the end of the half and Gray had to be sharp off his line to avert the danger and then McConnell shot across the face of goal.
The Shipyard went nap in the 49th minute when Gordon Grieve kept up his good scoring run when he knocked Ferrier’s cut back into the net from close in. Stuart Gray caused panic in the Shipyard ranks when he came out of his area and tried to dribble past a couple of Hearts forwards only to be dispossessed. Hearts could not make good of the opportunity though and the ball was cleared for a corner. The Shipyard were playing some good football with some fine one touch passing on the slick surface as they went in search of more goals. Hamilton tried his luck from close on 30yards only to see his shot flash wide. Dow showed some great skill as he beat a couple of defenders on the by-line and saw his shot beaten away by Clements. Small had a good chance in the 79th minute when he got onto a through ball but he shot straight at the keeper. Hearts scored a consolation goal with three minutes remaining when the ball was worked out to Martin McConnell whose fine strike gave Gray no chance. The last chance of the match also fell to Hearts but Gray saved well from Williamson’s well hit shot. Manager Whitehead was full of praise for his players and said “We played very well tonight in what were difficult conditions and I thought there were some fine individual performances”.
Teams: Burntisland Shipyard: Gray; Grieve; Brough; Cook; Whyte; Wilson; Hamilton; Lamont (Small); Ferrier (James); Gear; Dow.
Star Hearts: Clements; G. Wilson; Reid; Brown; Tierney; Lessells; Laurie; Williamson; Kirk; McConnell; Laidlaw. Subs: Goodsir; Braid; A. Wilson; Foy
Referee: N. Martin.