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Having won 4-3 in an extra time thriller at Volunteer Park in mid-December, Bo'ness returned from their winter break with another trip to Armadale, this time edging out the home side in a Brown Cup tie with a late goal from John Jeffrey, having earlier taking the lead through a remkarable Kevin Thomas strike. With their injury problems mounting in the goalkeeping position, Bo'ness welcomed back a familiar face, with Neil Binnie, not for the first time, returning from retirement to help out his old club.
With the teams battling against the elements - frequent showers and a stiff wind - this was never a classic game, but did enough to hold the attention. The visiting side, playing with the wind, had the better of the first period. They almost took the lead after nine minutes when Jamie Winning got on the end of a Jeffrey cross from the right, but his diving header went narrowly past the goalkeeper's left post.
Armadale struggled to create in the first half, not once forcing Binnie into making a save, although they did come close on 15 minutes when their No.7 headed wide from a corner kick. Bo'ness responded well to that threat, moving up the park to make a chance for themselves within a minute, but from a tight angle on the left Jeffrey couldn't squeeze Winning's lay off past the goalkeeper, who made a good block.
But after 27 minutes Bo'ness did break the deadlock with a stunning goal - a short lay off was played to Thomas 30 yards out, to the right of centre, and he fired a magnificent shot across goal and into the top corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance.
Armadale were still left with a fighting chance for the second half, though, with an increasingly strong wind now in their favour, and with the BUs failing to add to their lead before the break. And the home side came out looking much more dangerous, applying pressure early on which might have paid off within a few minutes of the restart, but No.9, slackly marked, headed a decent opportunity well wide from ten yards out. Bo'ness, meanwhile, struggled to cause any threat for most of the second half - the wind surely played its part, but can't explain the general deterioration in standards.
Armadale had their best chance yet on 64 minutes when the No.11 went on a splendid run, cutting inside from the left wing to make space and a shooting chance for himself at the edge of the box. But his finish lacked precision and gave Binnie, eight yards off his line to narrow the angle, the chance to push the ball away to his left for a fine save.
Despite their unimpressive second half showing, Bo'ness appeared to be stumbling towards victory until, ten minutes from time, Armadale found an equaliser when a long corner from the right was volleyed home from a narrow angle at the far post. The ball was hooked away by a defender, but was judged to have already crossed the line.
A familiar story then - as in their last meeting, Bo'ness led with apparent comfort at the half before finding themselves under second half pressure from a resurgent Armadale who snatched a late equaliser. Again, it appeared that the BUs had run out of fuel and were now second favourites...
And again they dug deep to escape with the win. Having looked mostly lethargic and untidy for 35 minutes, the equaliser provided Bo'ness with a much-needed jolt, and immediately their will to win seemed to return, and they began to look dangerous once more. With extra time looming, Gary Smith opted to do some ball juggling in his own half, fending off an attacker before his excellent volleyed pass up the park fell neatly behind the defence. Jeffrey looked suspiciously offside as he ran onto the ball but was allowed to continue through on goal, tucking the ball inside the onrushing goalkeeper's right post to win the game with his first goal of the season.
Not the BUs' best display of the season, but anyhow, they advance in the Brown Cup. Moreover, with a crunch Scottish tie against Glenafton to follow, Bo'ness not only kept their unbeaten run intact, but avoided injuries and suspension, and won't have given the Ayrshire club's spies too many clues with a somewhat experimental team. Not the stuff of legends, but mission accomplished.
Bo'ness United: Binnie; Smith, Loney, Todd [capt], Ellis, Burrows, Ryan, Mooney, Thomas, Winning, Jeffrey.