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Bo'ness bounced back superbly from last week's home thrashing against Tayport to advance in the East of Scotland with a magnificent second half comeback against East Super League leaders Bathgate, David Muirhead scoring the equaliser after missing a penalty, and Gordon Abbott finding the winner two minutes in stoppage time.
A sickener, no doubt, for Bathgate, who lost the two teams' earlier league meeting at Newtown to an injury time goal after a battling performance, and they must have believed they were going to have revenge after leading this contest for 74 minutes. The home team opened the scoring here with less than two minutes gone after getting out of the blocks brilliantly. With barely a minute played the No.10 burst through the defence, through on goalkeeper Jamie Campbell, but Campbell did well to dive at his feet and knock the ball away. The defence failed to properly clear the loose ball, and after a cross was swung in from the right, Campbell was called into action again to brilliantly push a volley away for a corner. But it was third time lucky for Thistle, the corner curled in from the right and headed into the Bo'ness net for an early lead.
A superb start for the home team, and after last week's horror show, the visiting support feared the worst again. Bathgate looked the more likely to add to the scoring in the game's opening quarter, their No.8 volleying over from an angle within fifteen minutes, and with 23 minutes gone, Bathgate's No.2 went on a superb individual run, bringing the ball in from wide before shooting narrowly over the target from just outside the box.
A minute later Bo'ness had their most notable chance of the first period, when the Bathgate goalkeeper had to react quickly to rush out and deny John Jeffrey a strike on goal. After a difficult beginning, Bo'ness had pulled themselves more into the contest, but there was no doubt that more, and better, chances had fallen to Bathgate.
BU coach Jimmy Sandison made two half-time changes, bringing on John Burrows and Gordon Abbott. With Abbott's influence, Bo'ness immediately began to look brighter going forward, and the introduction of Kevin Thomas for Murray Hunter when the latter had to limp off shortly after the restart also augmented the Bo'ness threat up front.
The first chance of the second half fell to Muirhead on 55 minutes, when he blazed a cut-back over the bar from 12 yards. Three minutes later Campbell was drawn into action at the other end, tipping a powerful drive from the edge of the area over the bar. Then, the Abbott and Thomas connection began to click up front for the BUs. On 60 minutes Thomas had a shooting opportunity from 20 yards, but his shot, though well struck, was too close to the goalkeeper. Two minutes later, Abbott laid the ball off for an unmarked Thomas inside the box, but the forward, ten yards from goal, was quickly closed down by the goalkeeper who made an excellent block.
Bo'ness had their best chance yet after 67 minutes when Abbott, through on goal on the right side of the box, was pulled down whilst trying to take the ball around the goalkeeper. After consulting his linesman, the referee awarded the penalty, but the usually reliable Muirhead, whose last miss from the spot was in August 2002, hit the ball low and too close to the goalkeeper, who made the save.
It was beginning to look like it wasn't to be the BUs' day, even moreso when, on 73 minutes, Abbott chased an excellent long pass from Derek Yates into the box, but, from an angle on the right, slid the ball across the goal and wide of the far post.
Two minutes later, though, Bo'ness finally got their deserved reward when a free kick on the right flank was pushed short to Martin Mooney, whose cross from the byeline into a crowded penalty area was headed in by Muirhead from ten yards, making amends for his earlier penalty miss by levelling the scores at 1-1.
Both teams looked for a winner as the game drew towards and end, and Bathgate nearly sneaked a goal two minutes from the end of normal time, when a flicked backwards header from a corner bounced inches wide of Campbell's left hand post.
That would have been extremely harsh on Bo'ness, who were at least worthy of a replay. But a second meeting was not to be necessary. Two minutes into stoppage time, Bathgate were exposed at the back as Muirhead collected the ball on the right and cut into the box. In the scramble which followed his pass into the centre, Thomas' shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, but the ball fell kindly for Abbott on the six yard line, who had the simple job of pushing the ball into an unguarded net to win the game.
Thomas nearly rubbed salt in the Bathgate wounds a minute later, but from eight yards, on his left side, he drew a brilliant reaction fingertip save from the 'keeper, who was unlucky to be on the losing side having done an excellent job of keeping his team in the game even as they fell away in the second half.
An excellent result for the BUs, and a tremendous second half effort, with the introduction of Abbott and Thomas doing a great deal to change the game. The question remains as to whether Bo'ness can turn in this sort of performance two weeks on the trot.
Bo'ness United: Campbell; Smith, Dolan, Todd, Yates [capt], Ryan (Burrows), Jeffrey, Mooney, Hunter (Thomas), Muirhead, Savage (Abbott).