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Bo'ness extended their best Scottish run in many years with a 2-0 defeat of East rivals Fauldhouse on a rainy afternoon at a well attended Newtown Park, going into the quarter finals thanks to goals from Graeme Donald and Gordon Herd. It marked the home team's seventh straight win and their fourth consecutive 2-0 success.
Though Bo'ness were nearly everywhere the bookmaker's favourites for this tie - and in some cases, surprisingly clear favourites - it promised to be a tough game against a side who had already left Newtown smiling twice this season. They had already dumped Bo'ness out of the League Cup on penalties, and won 3-0 in a controversial league encounter. Bo'ness had since triumphed 6-3 in a supremely entertaining game at Fauldhouse, but in a game where they had looked worryingly vulnerable against set-pieces and survived two penalty kicks for the home team.
The first half hour of the contest turned out to be every bit as challenging as feared. Fauldhouse, as robust and determined a team as anticipated, applied all the pressure in the opening third of the game. Bo'ness lacked compusure and displayed an alarming inability to retain possession and advance the ball, leaving them in a constant defensive stance. With more possession and an immense territorial advantage, it should only have been a matter of time before Fauldhouse took the lead, but they were unable to convert their dominance into clear chances. They came closest after eight minutes when a corner was only cleared as far as the edge of the area, from where an attacker fired a fierce volley just wide of BU 'keeper Neil Binnie's left hand post. Another set-piece with around twenty minutes played provided the visitors with an opportunity for an overhead kick inside the penalty area, though the attempt flew over the crossbar.
Considering how little they had contributed to the game, it was nothing short of scandalous that Bo'ness took the lead, with their first effort, after 31 minutes. A corner swung in from the right side found the head of Donald, whose superb powerful downward header left the goalkeeper beaten and the defender on the goalline with no real chance of blocking it.
The goal marked a notable change in the game. For the remainder of the half Bo'ness managed to hold their own, and were able to relieve some of the pressure which had made the opening stages so arduous. However, Fauldhouse could easily have pulled back level when a mistake by David Muirhead allowed a forward to steal the ball and burst through on goal. However, he stumbled on the wet turf, and the defence were able to scramble back to clear.
Bo'ness nearly doubled their advantage two minutes later, when a ball somehow found its way through to Herd on the right flank - his measured pass across the face of the goal nearly found his strike partner Iain Ferguson, but under pressure and at full stretch the big forward was just unable to connect with the ball.
The BUs were extremely fortunate to be ahead at the interval, but the indisputable fact remained that Fauldhouse, for all their superiority, had failed to create a genuine opportunity. For Bo'ness, the second half emphasis had to be on maintaining a tight back line, while ensuring that the midfield were not so comprehensively outfought as in the first thirty minutes.
Scoring another goal, of course, would also be helpful - and this was done just seven minutes after the restart. Herd looked suspiciously offside as he collected a long pass less than thirty yards from goal, but began closing in on goal with the linesman keeping his flag down. The goalkeeper, rushing out, made an excellent block as the striker tried to lift the ball over him, but in the almighty scramble which followed the ball broke back to a wide open Herd, who simply sidefooted the ball low into an unguarded net.
With Fauldhouse struggling to really open up the defence, the second goal left Bo'ness with one foot in the quarter finals. Fauldhouse clearly spent the following minutes trying to maintain a high pace and apply pressure, but they were having little joy.
Indeed, it was still Bo'ness who looked more like scoring. With an hour played, a cross from the right, flicked on by Derek Yates, reached Muirhead ten yards out, but his dangerous headed effort was deflected wide. Seven minutes later Muirhead was threatening again, this time attacking a corner kick from the right, but his excellent header was kept out by a combination of defender and woodwork. Ten minutes from time, John Jeffrey - on for Herd - might have done better with a header of his own as Bo'ness continued to pose a serious threat from set plays, but he failed to direct his effort away from the goalkeeper, who made a comfortable catch.
As the game reached the closing stages, Fauldhouse made a final push. Ian McMurray, a thorn in the BUs' side in previous meetings this season, was just unable to connect with one ball over the top of the defence, when a touch might easily have knocked the ball beyond Binnie. Then, with five minutes to play, Todd made a clumsy and somewhat needless challenge inside the box near the byeline, when staying on his feet was surely the best option. The referee - presumably on loan from the Scottish Netball Association, given the number of absurdly soft or simply non-existent fouls he awarded over the game, chiefly, but by no means exclusively, against the home team - had no option but to award a spot kick. It would have set up a nailbiting finish, but memories of the two clubs' last meeting must have come back to haunt Fauldhouse when their No.8 stepped up and rattled the shot off the crossbar with Binnie well beaten.
It was to be their last chance to take something from the day, as Bo'ness successfully killed the game off without further drama to secure their place in the last eight.
Bo'ness United: Binnie; Smith, King, Todd, Yates [capt], Muirhead, Love (Hodge), Mooney, Ferguson (Ryan), Herd (Jeffrey), Donald.