Burntisland Shipyard 2-5 Tranent Juniors
Recreation Park, Burntisland
EOSFL Conference B
Tranent made it six points out of six on their second trip of the week to the Kingdom, with a comfortable win over Burntisland.
The East Lothian side had beaten Dundonald 2-nil at a Freezing cold Moorside Park last Tuesday night.
They made the trip back over the Forth on Saturday and a goal from Dean Whitson added to doubles from Bradley Barrett & Ben Miller to ease them past Shippy in the sunshine at Recreation Park.
The day had started off well for Shippy, Andrew Watt’s 2nd minute strike giving them the lead so early that this photographer was still coming through the gate....
By the time the lens cap was off, Tranent had got over the early blow and were starting the business of trying to get their way back into the game. The early exchanges were pretty even, with both sides creating plenty of attacking opportunities. Tranent gradually began to gain the upper hand though, Devlin and Barrett starting to see plenty of the ball in the wide areas. The visitors got themselves level in the 28th minute when Whitson created space for himself on the right edge of the box and slammed the ball low past Ryan Adamson.
There was a hint of controversy about Tranent’s second. When Barrett collected the forward pass wide on the left and beat Galloway, virtually everyone inside Recreation Park expected the offside flag to go up. The whistle stayed silent though, and Barrett strode forward and calmly stroked the ball across the keeper into the far corner of the net to give the visitors the lead.
Shippy nearly got themselves level with the clock ticking round to half-time, Connor McQuade taking the ball round the keeper only to see Neil Smeaton clear off the line. They couldn’t take advantage of the resulting corner, and the sides headed to the dressing rooms with the visitors just in front.
If the first half had been pretty even, the second was a much more one-sided contest as the visitors began to impose themselves. Tranent enjoyed a string of corners as the half got underway and the pressure began to build. Barrett went close with a penetrating run and although he dragged his shot wide, the writing was on the wall for Shippy.
The hosts held on until the hour mark before Barrett grabbed his second of the game, taking it round the keeper and rolling it into the empty net, to make it 3-1 to the away side. The heavens opened with a heavy April shower and that goal opened the floodgates for Shipyard, substitute Ben Miller nailing a quick fire double to give Tranent a 5-1 lead with minutes left to play.
The hosts made an immediate change to try and stem the flow, Charlie Simpson replacing Grant Skinner, but the damage was already done. Shippy were almost non-existent as an attacking force up to this point in the half, the long ball into the strikers the only weapon in their arsenal and the visiting defence was dealing comfortably with that. It was another substitute Reece Bernard that grabbed a second for Burntisland, but it was only a consolation by this time.
Tranent had a couple of chances to increase the misery for their hosts, Barrett in particular looking dangerous every time he got on the ball, but Shippy managed to limit the damaged, and it finished 5-2 to the visitors.
The game brings to a close the league season for both clubs and the six points collected in Fife this week have helped lift Tranent to a third place finish in Conference B, two ahead of Tuesdays hosts Dundonald. Burntisland can now head off on their summer holidays, while Tranent now turn their attention to two home cup ties, the first against Bo’ness on Tuesday in the League Cup before the King Cup game against Broxburn in a fortnight.
Man Of The Match: Bradley Barrett was too hot to handle all afternoon, his pace and direct running a constant thorn in Shippy’s flesh. A goal either side of half-time did the damage and set the visitors on their way to the win.
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