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Bo'ness weren't great, but had enough to see off Maybole in this Scottish Junior Cup tie in Ayrshire after a thrilling second half involving a penalty to either side and the home team being reduced to ten men.
An exciting second half, then, but the first period was a less inspiring affair. Never quite dull, but nor anything more than interesting. Bo'ness were, however, able to carve out an advantage inside quarter of an hour - John Jeffrey controlling a pass on the left hand side of the penalty area before finding Gordon Herd with a low ball for the latter to coolly slip the ball past the goalkeeper with a low shot.
Maybole's best first half effort came five minutes later, when their No.8 connected with a cross from the right, but his fine diving header was well palmed away by an alert Neil Binnie in the Bo'ness goal. There was little else of real note before half-time. John Jeffrey came closest to extending the visitors' lead, but fired wide from a useful position.
The second half saw Bo'ness create more and better chances than their hosts, although Maybole were by no means out of the game, and began to assert themselves in midfield. However, the BUs demonstrated that the home defence, troubled by the pace of Herd, were there for the taking.
With 55 minutes on the clock, Martin Mooney sent Herd clear of the defence with a fine through ball, but the forward saw his shot partially blocked by the goalkeeper, before a defender was able to rush back to clear the ball off the goal line. Five minutes later, Brian Kemp - on as a replacement for Mooney - saw his decent free kick effort from 25 yards rather unconvincingly scrambled wide of the post by the Maybole 'keeper. Another five minutes later, and Herd was turning provider, playing in Jeffrey only for the latter to see his effort beat the goalkeeper but bounce agonisingly off the post.
Still, after the close calls, Bo'ness appeared to have given themselves a cushion after 69 minutes. Herd, his speed again getting the better of the lumbering home defence, chased a long, high ball into the box, and from a tight angle cut the ball across the goal. The ball appeared to be heading in - but Jeffrey, wanting to make sure, pounced on the ball to stab it home. His intervention from an offside position, though, made the goal illegal - a bizarre example of goal un-snatching.
Nevertheless, with Maybole performing reasonably well - their No.10 particularly standing out- but unable to break through the BU defence, it appeared that one goal might well be enough. The away team got a fright, though, when on 74 minutes Maybole's No.8 struck a shot from 30 yards which smacked off Binnie's crossbar, but fell kindly for the defenders waiting to clear.
It was, though, only a very temporary reprieve. Maybole were beneficiaries of a slightly baffling penalty decision two minutes later - an apparently innocuous challenge on the margins of the penalty box out on the right wing resulted in a spot-kick for the home team. Their No.8 at last got a personally deserved goal, smashing the ball past Binnie.
Had Bo'ness squandered their opportunities to win the tie at the first attempt? Would they have to hold out in hope of a home replay? No, and no. Within four minutes, Bo'ness were back in front. Herd proved too quick for Maybole's No.5, beating him to a long ball to go through on goal, before being shoved down from behind inside the box. A penalty was inevitably given; equally inevitable was the red card, since the defender in question was already on a caution, although the straight red underlined the gravity of the offence. David Muirhead stepped up and made no mistake from 12 yards.
Once again a goal up, and now a man up in the closing stages, Bo'ness were in a comfortable position. With six minutes left, Jeffrey killed off any remaining doubts when, unmarked, he simply headed home a fine cross from the byeline by Gary Smith. Herd and Todd might have extended the lead in the dying minutes but for some determined defending, but the tie was already settled.
Not the stuff of legend, but Bo'ness, even some distance of their best, showed themselves good enough to progress from a potentially tricky away tie against one of the leading teams in the Ayrshire regional division.
Bo'ness United: Binnie; Smith, King, Todd, Yates [capt.], Muirhead, Hodge, Mooney (Kemp), Jeffrey, Herd, Wood (Ryan).