Bo'ness United 2-4 University of Stirling

'Fanview' Match Report submitted by BRYAN COPELAND!

East of Scotland Qualifying Cup, Quarter Final
Bo’ness United v Stirling University
Wednesday 30/03/2022. KO 19:45.
Newtown Park, Bo’ness.

Bo’ness Team :
Murphy, McCormack, Skinner, Stevenson, Hawkins, Gemmell (C), Galbraith, Jacobs, Nicol, Locke, Mitchell.
Subs Macauley, Johnston, Flynn, Grant.

A win on Saturday secured progression in the League Cup and with good cup runs so far this season Bo’ness are still in 3 cup competitions.
In this one the winner is rewarded with an away semi final to either Hill of Beath Hawthorn or Linlithgow Rose.
Before that however tonight must be taken care of and it will be far from easy with the BU yet to record a win over Stirling University having played them twice so far in the league and the best they managed was a draw earlier in the season. In the reverse league fixture it was a defeat for Bo’ness.
Midweek attendances have been noticeably down over the last few weeks as Bo’ness have faced a packed fixture schedule this month pretty much playing every Saturday and every midweek and it continues as we go into the start of April.
There plenty at stake tonight and a cup quarter final usually brings the crowd in so hopefully tonight will see more people come along and #BackTheBU.

Being a midweek game hopefully Gaffer Max Christie will have a strong squad to choose from with some of the most recent games seeing his squad numbers down due to injury and illness.

Into the match then and the home side got us underway attacking the goal towards Kinneil School. A change tonight from last time out on Saturday where Ainslie Park was bathed in glorious sunshine and warm where as tonight it’s under the lights and on the cold side with would you believe it flurries of snow. A loose pass from Murphy as he dealt with a pass back almost allowed the visitors in but it was well covered by the home defence then a clever flick on half way from Mitchell had him on his way chasing the ball up the right hand side, he done really well getting on to it again and from the edge of the box squared it nicely for Stevenson who ran onto it but
unfortunately scuffed his shot and the ball rolled into the hands of the waiting Uni keeper. The home side started well once again and Hawkins dug out a cross from the right towards the back post before Mitchell came close with an effort after latching on to a through ball from Stevenson. 9 minutes in and the opening goal came a corner was swung to the back post by Galbraith and Nicol nodded home from close range. BU 1 - 0 Uni. Just a few minutes later and Nicol was almost in again this time the ball just nicked away from him as he was about to shoot, it came back to him and he poked it towards Stevenson but the visiting keeper was equal to his shot this time. The home side remained on top and Stevenson sent a really good ball between the penalty spot and the 6 yard box from well out on the left hand side, Hawkins got on the end of it again the Stirling Uni keeper was busy and saved it well. The visitors got forward but the cross ball was to a man in an offside position however just a minute later a slack pass from the edge of the box allowed them a free shot from the edge of the box, thankfully for the home side it was deflected away from the target. More pressure from the home side came between 20 and 25 minutes firstly a free kick from the left hand edge of the box was defended for a corner and the corner which was really good curled in right on top of the keeper which he done really well to palm away at full stretch before Nicol had yet another easy finish. At the other end on the half hour a shot from the edge of the box was blocked before the rebound was fired back in with pace, Murphy in the Bo’ness goal however made a fantastic stop sending the ball for a corner. 31 minutes and a ball from the left was sent to the back post this time Uni were 1st to react and headed the equalising goal in from close range. BU 1 - 1 Uni. At the other end a few minutes later a ball through found Mitchell who hit a really good shot only to see it rattle the cross bar. Murphy got a good hand to a deep cross from the far side and at the other end Nicol had a shot from the edge of the box that wasn’t too far off target. 4 minutes from the break and the home side restored their lead, brilliant vision from Locke saw him play an utterly brilliant pass from one half of the pitch to the other in front of Mitchell who ran onto it and took a touch to control before finding the pass had totally spilt the visitors open and he was running in on goal with just the keeper to beat, he looked up, picked his spot and calmly put the ball past the advancing keeper into the net. BU 2 - 1 Uni. A cross right before half time found its way to Stevenson who had a shot blocked and as the ball was cleared up the pitch the referee signalled the end of the half.

Bo’ness United 2 -1 Stirling University .

Into the 2nd half and a couple of early corners gave the home side a chance to extend their lead which given how they’ve played so far you could argue would be deserved. The missed chances came to haunt us however as 5 minutes into the half a ball in from the right was shot towards goal and went beyond Murphy low into the net after the ball took a deflection. BU 2 - 2 Uni. Fast forward another 5 minutes and the game turned around a low diagonal through ball to the edge of the box was met by Uni and a low drive was powered into the bottom corner. BU 2 - 3 Uni. Nicol almost equalised for the home side with a low drive from inside the box over on the right hand side the ball flashing past the post for a goal kick. A free kick from half way gave the visitors another chance to play the ball forward and it had to be defended for a corner. In it came and was nodded on then bundled into the net. It looked however like the goal wouldn’t stand as the linesman had his flag up however the referee waved him down and awarded the goal. BU 2 - 4 Uni. And all being said and not using as an excuse not much help was coming the way of the home side from the officials with already a tackle from behind on Michael Gemmell and fouls on Stevenson, Jacobs, McCromack and Mitchell all going unpunished with not even a free kick awarded so it came as no surprise to the home support the goal was awarded. The linesman had his flag up for some time so clearly seen some infringement for the goal but after continually been told to drop his flag by the referee without even consulting him the game was restarted. Slack passing was now costing the home side as it looked a different team to the one that played in the 1st half the only chance of note since the start of the half so far coming on 71 minutes a free kick from distance struck over the bar by Galbraith. A cross from the far side was safely caught by Murphy and as he went to distribute it he was blatantly pushed to the ground by the Uni player who then dived to make himself look innocent. All seen by both referee and linesman, last I checked lifting hands to an opponent was a red card however not today as the referee issued a yellow card for violent conduct rather than a red. All this was also wasting time which was suiting the visitors just fine with now only 9 minutes to go. A corner for the home side was sent in to the 6 yard box and as it was almost headed towards goal the keeper got their clutching the ball and managing to gold onto it. A few minutes to go and the visitors ran the clock down with a couple of substitutions, for the home side it’s yet another game where BU manager Max Christie didn’t use anyone on his bench to try and change the game after it turned around earlier in the half. Couple of minutes to go and a chance to get 1 back as the ball fell to Stevenson who hit a shot unfortunately this time it was well over the bar. 2 minutes added on and in summary a really m good 1st half from the home side where we could have and should have scored more goals was followed by a poor 2nd half and a hungry Uni side that turned the game around in their favour so this is now 1 cup the BU can’t win this season and Uni will go on to the semi final and play either Hill of Beath Hawthorn or Linlithgow Rose.
Full time Bo’ness United 2 - 4 Stirling University.