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Bo'ness comfortably booked their place in the semi-finals of the League Cup with a defeat of Livingston by 5-1 - but the scoreline hardly tells the story of the BUs' dominance.
Livingston owed their place at this stage to a successful appeal over an inelligible player used by Whitburn in their second round meeting, won 3-1 by the Scottish Junior Cup holders, and indeed Livingston hardly looked like they could otherwise have reached the quarter-finals.
Bo'ness almost scored through Dale Ryan in the opening minutes, but after a scramble the ball was cleared off the line. But on seven minutes Ryan did score against an unconvincing defence, heading in from 5 yards, latching onto a cross from Jamie Loney from the left wing.
On 21 minutes the home team scored again, with another Ryan header. A Kevin Inglis free-kick was whipped in, and deflected high up off Loney's head - the goalkeeper should have come to claim, but instead was punished for waiting on his line when Ryan won the aerial challenge to head home his second.
Bo'ness could have went three in front soon after, with Loney hitting the crossbar with a volley after weak defending at a corner; then Ward was unlucky when his effort rolled across the face of the goal without going in.
There were some signs of life from the visitors. Livingston came their closest when a header flashed wide of Binnie's right post.
However, Ryan completed his hat-trick late in the half when Darryl Drew beat his man on the left wing, and cut the ball back from the bye-line, with Ryan lashing the ball into the roof of the net.
With the difference in the quality of the sides immense, there was little prospect of a comeback from Livingston even against a Bo'ness side who were far from in top gear. And those little prospects all but disappeared soon after the second half kick-off when Livingston had their centre half stretchered off, and then were left with even bigger mountain to climb when a man was ordered off for his second bookable offence - stupidly failing to retreat ten yards at a free kick.
With Bo'ness in cruise control and becoming increasingly sloppy, Livingston pulled a goal back through No. 11 after 75 minutes, when the Bo'ness defence fell asleep and allowed him through to slot ball neatly past Neil Binnie.
That goal, though, merely served to wake Bo'ness up. Three minutes later, Kevin Inglis fired an excellent shot into the 'keeper's bottom right corner, laid on by Ward on the break.
Then, on 80 minutes, Loney scored with a good effort from the left inside the box to complete the rout. Bo'ness might have scored more - substitute Paul McKinlay had a shot remarkably cleared off the line, then Gary Smith was also denied by a defender on the line. King had a good effort from his own half, but it was comfortably saved by the goalkeeper, who also denied the unlucky Ward on a couple of occasions late on. Despite the late onslaught, Bo'ness had to settle for five.
Not much of a contest - with better finishing, Bo'ness could easily have reached double figures. In any case, it ensured their progress to the semi-finals of the season's first cup competition.
Bo'ness: Binnie; Smith, King, Ryan, Yates, C Inglis, K Inglis, Kemp, Ward, Loney, Drew (McKinlay)
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