Hat trick for Anthony as Burntisland move up to fifth

Darrell Anthony is congratulated after scoring his second goal for.

All the damage was done in the first half as the Anthony brothers grabbed all the goals with Darrell notching a hat-trick and Ben netting the other, while Marc Malloy scored for the visitors.

The first chance fell to Shippy in the third minute when Ben Anthony ran on to a through ball only to see his effort blocked at the edge of the box.

The deadlock was broken in the eighth minute when Ben set up Darrell and despite his initial shot being saved by keeper David Livie the rebound fell kindly for him and he smashed the ball home.

Preston forced Michael Gibb into a good save in the 23rd minute before the young keeper was in the spotlight again a minute later. Keatings was adjudged to have committed a foul in the box with the referee pointing to the spot.

Gibb pulled off a great save to deny Joe Murray, however, he was beaten by Molloy who was quick to react to the loose ball.

Preston weren’t level for long as the Shippy regained the lead in the 28th minute. Reece Brown did well down the right hand side and when he crossed into the box D. Anthony blasted the ball beyond Livie.

Darrell completed his hat-trick a few minutes later when his shot from the edge of the box took a deflection leaving the keeper helpless.

Brown shot into the side netting a minute later as the Shippy threatened to run riot. The visitors had a chance in the 42nd minute when the forward beat Gibb to a ball in the air and as the headed effort drifted wide appeals for another penalty as the players collided were dismissed.

As the game moved into added time the Shipyard scored a fourth as B. Anthony drove forward and fired the ball into the corner of the net from around twenty yards.

A half time talking to from the manager seemed to invigorate Preston and they played with a lot more determination and got on the front foot more often, though Gibb was never tested as the back four in front of him was dealing with everything that came their way.

The win pushes Burntisland up to fifth place in the league table.