Dalbeattie Star 1-2 Bo'ness United

'Fanview' Match Report submitted by BRYAN COPELAND!

Lowland League
Dalbeattie Star v Bo’ness United
Sat 30/04/2022. KO : 15:00
Islecroft Stadium, Dalbeattie.

Bo’ness Team :
Murphy(Gk). J. McCormack, Skinner, Macaulay, Stevenson, Jacobs, Gemmell (C), Locke, Nicol, Walker, Johnston

The penultimate league game for Bo’ness today as we make the long round trip to Dalbeattie and back. With nothing to play for and the distance and time involved the fact there’s nothing to play for in the league but pride won’t help the BU today with many probably choosing to miss out on the journey, however those who are there I’m sure will do their best to give the lads their full encouragement.

Originally this match was scheduled for earlier in the season but with Dalbeattie having a cup replay it had to be postponed.
After today there’s a trip to finish the league in Wednesday night to Galashiels to play the abandoned match between us from earlier in the season however some may question what Gaffer Max Christie and the players thoughts are ahead of these two games with a big local derby cup semi final next Saturday. I’m sure everyone will still give there all as they always do however surely the priory has to be no further injuries and certainly no suspensions going into next Saturday.

For today it’s another new place for the BU and fans to visit and in order to keep the the morale and confidence up ahead of next week a good result would be a great advantage.

Into the match then and the home side got us underway. The visitors struggled to get into it at the start with domination in the opening stages from Star. A cross from the left had to be headed clear but possession was handed right back to the home side and with decent oaky down the right they got themselves a corner. In it came towards the 6 yard box and Murphy totally missed it as he came off his line, McCormack however headed away well just beyond the far post. At the other end on 11 minutes a good ball over to the edge of the box found McCormack who had a really good effort headed off the line, Stevenson was 1st to the loose ball but his 1st time shot went wide of the post. A good ball out wide gave Star the chance to cross but Murphy was equal to it gathering the ball low at his near post. A corner for Bo’ness was well delivered and headed clear as Stevenson almost got on the end of it with the game now settling down and become slightly more even. Macaulay made a brilliant interception inside the Star half and as he broke forward quickly he was brought down not far outside the box bringing a yellow card to the home centre half and a free kick to the visitors. Initially Stevenson, Nicol and Locke were stood near the ball but Stevenson went one way and Nicol the other leaving Locke to the ball. He curled a stunning strike into the top corner, the home keeper getting just fingertips to it but the strike was sheer brilliance and the ball went in off the post. Star 0 - 1 BU. The visitors were much more in the game now and Gemmell found Macaulay with a great forward pass unfortunately just before he got get a shot away the ball was won back by the home defence. A foul with studs right on the ankle could have seen the star centre half walking as it looked certainly a sending off offense, some stern words from the referee instead however gave him a chance to stay on and a free kick curled in by Stevenson was collected by the home keeper just in time before it left a chance from around 7 yards out. The home side were starting to make some rather nasty tackles and another booking came their way on 29 minutes this time Gemmell hacked down with a very poor challenge. A through ball was met by Stevenson who’s 1st time shot was poor and easily collected by the keeper. Nicol done well in midfield winning the ball and holding into it before feeding it down the line to Walker who swung it into the box, the home keeper came for it but didn’t look confident as he spilled it at the near post; no one in blue was following up for a tap in however. Gemmell picked the ball up in the midfield and once again the poor tackling was there as yet another yellow was shown this time no where near the ball as Gemmell was hacked down with a boot on his shin. Skinner made a good tackle inside his own box to send the ball for a corner which was then well headed clear at the back post with just over 5 minutes of the 1st half to go. Walker broke forward on the right and skipped a tackle before sending a good shot on the angle that the home keeper did well to palm away off target. Locke misplaced a header out from the back but recovered well to clear any danger and Skinner had a well timed interception on the edge of the box before playing a ball that almost set Macauley on his way down the left hand side. Gemmell recovered the ball in midfield as the half came to a close.
Dalbeattie Star 0 - 1 Bo’ness United.

Into the 2nd half and for the opening 15 minutes it was rather uneventful with only a great ball through by Gemmell to report, unfortunately for the visitors MacAuley was judged to be offside. 61 minutes and the visitors doubled their lead. McCormack had a really good dribble before putting an exquisite ball over from the right of the box that left Walker with the easiest of finishes, all the work was done pace, curl and precision already on the ball and no mistake was made finishing the chance calmly. Star 0 - 2 BU. Bo’ness captain Michel Gemmell was once again strolling through the game picking up any loose balls and making tackles well that had to be made in the middle of the park, plus any balls played forward weren’t wasted as he was finding another blue jersey really well. The home side had for the most part now seemed to fall into a rut and struggled to get forward as they constantly tried to play long balls that were easy for the visitors to deal with. Walker brought the ball forward towards the box and looked to open up a chance to shoot but instead he tried to lay it off to an advancing Macaulay, this time it was read well and cleared by the home defence. Jacobs made a really good block to send the ball for a corner as the home side had a rare break forward in this half where other than the odd slack pass to give the ball away the visitors looked comfortable. McCormack tracked back well as yet another long ball came from the home side and at the other end Macaulay done really well to bring the ball down and found Stevenson out on the left but unfortunately his cross was poor and the ball went for a goal kick. It was getting a bit sloppy and lazy from the visitors which allowed the home side a shot on the edge of the box that flashed last the right hand post and a minute or 2 later a low drive that also went no too far wide although Murphy looked to have it covered anyway. 2 minutes to go and a free kick award gave Dalbeattie a final chance to get the ball into the box and as it was curled in it was met and sent into the net at the back post giving the home side a goal back. Star 1 - 2 BU. It was then an uneventful final 2 minutes plus the 1 added on before the referee blew the full time whistle.

Dalbeattie Star 1 - 2 Bo’ness United