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Bo'ness took a massive step towards the division title and promotion into the Super League with an ultimately comfortable win over a Pumpherston side who finished the game with ten men. What a difference between the last time these teams met back in November - then, Bo'ness coasted to a 2-0 win in a dreadfully dull, uneventful contest on a dreary day. This, by contrast, was a highly enjoyable fixture as Bo'ness pushed for a vital three points against a side already doomed to relegation.
Doomed to relegation perhaps, but the BUs knew this would be no easy task. Pumpherston's recent 4-1 win at Camelon demonstrated that this was a team more than capable of causing problems when they hit their stride.
Certainly Bo'ness took some time to hit their own stride in this contest. Though Dale Ryan, restored to a starting place wide on the right, produced the game's first notable effort on goal - a decent volley from the edge of the area pushed wide by the goalkeeper after eight minutes - the visitors looked surprisingly lacking in motivation in the opening quarter. Ryan's effort was followed by a couple of reasonable chances for the home team. With 12 minutes played they attacked down the right; Pumpherston's No.8 found space to hit the ball from 18 yards out, and might have done better than his near sidefooted shot which Binnie held, diving low to his right. With 19 minutes played came the closest to a goal yet. A Pumpherston corner from the left swung in to the back post, where the header back across goal needed Dougie Todd on the line to hook the ball clear and preserve parity.
Following this fright, the visitors began to take more of a grip on the game, gaining the upperhand in terms of attacking pressure. But with half an hour gone came the opening goal, against the run of play, for the home team. Not much the BU defence could do about this one. After a free kick was awarded against Derek Yates thirty yards out, the ball was touched off for Pumpherston's No.8 to strike. His shot was travelling, but as Neil Binnie moved to his right to cover it, the ball took a wicked deflection and spun high to the goalkeeper's left, leaving him no chance as it dropped into the net.
Bo'ness desperately needed an equaliser before the interval to give themselves a platform to go on and take the full points, and the leveller duly came, courtesy of David Wood, on 41 minutes. Gary Smith, on one of his many charges forward, was brought down out on the right and Wood's splendid curling effort from 30 yards flew into the goalkeeper's top right corner, despite him getting a hand to it.
And they nearly built on that to go in at half-time with the lead. Slack defensive play on 45 minutes allowed Martin Mooney to nick in and steal the ball at the edge of the box, and slip the ball to Iain Ferguson. The big forward struck a fine shot at goal from 20 yards, but only succeeded in drawing a quite magnificent save from the goalkeeper, diving to his left to punch the ball away.
The signs at least were more positive than they had been after half an hour, and the away side picked up where they left off to start the second period. With 51 minutes played, Ryan picked up the ball on the right wing, cut inside into the box and forced a smart stop from the goalkeeper at his near post. Two minutes later, Pumpherston again found themselves exposed down their left. Gary Smith pushing forward again went on a fine run into the box, beating two, but when he might have shot from ten yards he opted to chip the ball to Ferguson. Nothing wrong with the chip itself, but Ferguson was ruled offside as he nodded the ball into the net at the far post.
The home team, already on the back foot, did nothing to enhance their chances a minute later when they were reduced to ten men. It was to prove a pivotal moment in the game, but in truth they could hardly complain - the only surprise is that their incessant fouling throughout the contest didn't earn more cards. On this occasion, the No.3, already booked in the first half, scythed down Ferguson on the right wing to earn himself a second yellow card.
Not the cleverest challenge, but despite their loss Pumpherston managed to steady the ship over the next fifteen minutes. Bo'ness, pushing forward in ever greater numbers in search of their second, were denied any clear opportunities. Smith and Ryan combined well down the right before the former tested the goalkeeper with an overhead flick on 66 minutes, then Wood came close with a low drive which sped just wide of the 'keeper's left post four minutes later, but Pumpherston must have been satisfied with their defensive solidity.
But with 74 minutes gone, the cave-in at last began. Mooney fired off a low shot across goal from the edge of the box on the left - the goalkeeper got a hand on the ball, and must have been disappointed to see it nevertheless beat him and find the back of the net. It might well have been kept out. Not that Bo'ness were complaining.
The goalkeeper made partial amends the next minute when he made a fine block of a Wood strike from eight yards out on the left; then on 77 minutes Ryan sent John Jeffrey through with a superb pass, only for the forward to see his shot blocked by the goalkeeper and then somehow scrambled away by the defence before Jeffrey could get a second stab at it. But all this proved merely to delay the eventual flood.
With eleven minutes remaining, Smith advanced once more down the right and fed the ball to Ryan, who produced an excellent cross for the head of Ferguson. A notable point, after a day of thus far awful crosses. The goalkeeper attempted to come out and claim the ball, but Ferguson got his head to the ball first to knock it in and put the result beyond reasonable doubt.
Not yet content, the visitors kept looking for more, and just a minute later, with the home team now pushing forward, Wood found a totally unmarked Jeffrey 25 yards out; the forward ran at goal, slipped the ball around the goalkeeper, then passed the ball into the empty net for a cool finish to make it 4-1. Still the fun and games weren't over. Three minutes later, substitute Brian Kemp delivered a fine ball from the left wing to find another substitute, David Muirhead, at the near post, where he nodded in the fifth.
With Bo'ness now coasting, there was some consolation to be found for the home team three minutes from time, a swift move down the right leading to No.12 cutting the deficit with a diving header from six yards. But it mattered not by this stage, and after Smith came close to grabbing a deserved goal of his own on 89 minutes with a drive which was just high and wide, the visitors were more than happy with their 5-2 success from this entertaining fixture.
All of which neatly sets up a likely title decider against Sauchie in the BUs' last game. In the meantime, though, the small matter of a Scottish semi-final.
Bo'ness United: Binnie; Smith, King, Todd, Yates, Donald (Muirhead), Ryan, Mooney, Ferguson (Hodge), Jeffrey, Wood (Kemp)