Report - Bo'ness United 2-1 Whitburn

Newtown Park, 6th January 2001 - League Division 1

BO'NESS UNITED 2-1 WHITBURN (1-1 HT)

Three was the magic number - three goals, three penalties, three red cards - in an entertaining league match at Newtown, won by Bo'ness United after some late drama. Manager John Sludden will have been happy enough with some aspects of his team's performance against the Scottish Junior Cup holders, from the midfield and centre-forward Paul McKinlay, and rather more worried by a staggeringly slack defensive showing. However, it was the referee who dominated proceedings with his controversial decisions.
His two penalty awards in the last ten minutes were particularly important. First, with the score at 1-1, he pointed to the spot when McKinlay appeared to be held as he went for a high ball played into the box. It was the right decision, although many referees may have let it go. McKinlay himself stepped up to fire home to the goalkeeper's left. But even with just nine minutes to go, the spot kick was not enough on its own. With two minutes to play of regulation time, a penalty was given to the visitors, but their last chance of taking a point from the match was lost when Bo'ness 'keeper Neil Binnie dived to his right to parry the shot, before it was hooked away by a defender. Whitburn's misery was compounded when a defender was ordered off in stoppage time for a second yellow card after crudely bringing down Jamie Loney in the corner.
The late excitement was not, however, exceptional for the game. As early as six minutes, an ambitious Whitburn effort dipped over Binnie, only to land on the Bo'ness bar and bounce to safety. The BUs, playing their first fixture for nearly a month, looked rusty early on but had a threatening spell after settling down in which McKinlay saw an effort well blocked by the Whitburn goalkeeper from ten yards out, before Greig Hodge curled a shot just wide from the edge of the penalty area.
However, the Bo'ness defence were already making errors. Even as Bo'ness began to apply the more pressure, the best chance fell for Whitburn, when the offside trap was beaten leaving the attacker unmarked in the box, but he skewed his shot wide. However, it was from a similar situation that they took the lead on 25 minutes, when the Whitburn no.6, unmarked at the penalty spot, calmly backheeled the ball past Binnie.
Bo'ness's response was not encouraging. It appeared to galvanise Whitburn more than the home team, and after more poor defending, Whitburn spurned a couple of reasonable chances to increase their advantage.
Then, the first of the game's penalties, on 37 minutes. As John Black passed to the feet of Hodge inside the box, the latter went down, with the referee giving the penalty, judging Hodge's marker to have clipped his heels. The decision was questionable, but Kevin Inglis made no mistake with the penalty.
Both teams were reduced to ten men just before the break when an altercation between Dale Ryan and the Whitburn no.7 rather harshly resulted in a red card for both players. The Whitburn midfielder's original foul on Ryan merited a caution, but the man in black appeared to over-react to the resulting minor scuffle.
The second half began just as eventfully, when a dreadful backpass presented Whitburn with a virtually open goal, only for the forward - perhaps surprised at receiving the opportunity - to decline the gift, allowing Binnie to recover and make the save.
It appeared, however, that neither side could take advantage of their openings. Whitburn squandered a number of half-chances, while Greig Hodge saw a speculative attempt from all of 35 yards hit the bar. With 79 minutes played, Hodge did well to win the ball from the tiring Calumn Milne, and set up an excellent chance for McKinlay, who was unlucky to see the the onrushing goalkeeper deflect his shot away.
But the late, and controversial, dramatics ensured the contest would not finish level. It was three good points for the home side, but the visitors must feel they should have taken something from the game.

Bo'ness: Binnie; Black, King, Hodge, Yates, C Inglis, K Inglis (Ward), Drew (Kemp), McKinlay, Loney, Ryan.

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