12th May 2019 Musselburgh Athletic v Bo’ness United 0-1

Final of the East of Scotland League Cup today. The tournament started with group stages back in July and the final is now being played at the neutral Penicuik Park. We had things to do in the morning but I checked bus timetables and a 47 was due at Tollcross just after 12.30 which would get me to Penicuik for the 14.00 kick-off. Arrived at bus stop around 12.15 to find bus was not due to arrive for twenty-five minutes. Decided to start walking and cut through to Newington which gave me a choice of a 37 or the 47. The 37 arrived first so I got on, a bad mistake. When we got to Straiton a young child banged his face against the seat in front. Blood was pouring from his lip and the driver asked his mother if she wanted him to call an ambulance, which would delay us reaching Penicuik. She said no as they only had a couple of stops before they would be home. Biggest mistake I made however was forgetting a 37 went through Loanhead then back onto the Penicuik road before coming off again to go through Roslin and finally rejoining the Penicuik road again. Finally arrived at Penicuik around 13.30 and paid £6 admission and £2 for a programme. Had a walk round the ground and met former colleague John who was working on one of the gates. I then wandered over to the sunny side of the ground and met Jim. We took up position at the fence near the Musselburgh dugout for the kickoff.

Musselburgh had qualified for the final without losing a goal in the qualifying matches or the previous round. With six wins fifteen goals scored and none conceded this was obviously one of their favourite competitions. Musselburgh's goal threat comes from twin strikers Matti King and Nathan Evans. King who started his career at Celtic and Hearts has been at Musselburgh for ten years and has scored thirty-four goals this season. Evans, the son of former Hibs player Gareth Evans, was previously in the Lowland League with Edinburgh University and is clearly a better finisher than his dad was having scored twenty goals already this season. Bo'ness lost to Jeanfield Swifts in the qualifying stages but qualified a group runners-up.Victories over top sides Newtonrange Star, Tranent and Bonnyrigg Rose in the knock-out rounds however show the quality of the team. The name Ryan Stevenson in the Bo'ness side intrigued me especially when I read that he had played for Hearts. However it was not the player who scored two goals in the 2013 League Cup final. This Ryan Stevenson had played for Hearts as a youth and then joined Raith Rovers who sent him to Bo'ness on loan for experience.

It was Musselburgh (Burgh) who made the better start in the final Matti King going close from a shot pushed away by Bo’ness keeper Andrew Murphy following a long clearance from Musselburgh keeper Ali Adams. King had another shot minutes later from the right hand side of the penalty area comfortably gathered by Murphy. Bo’ness started to come more into the game around halfway through the first half with Brian Morgan missing a good chance after he failed to connect with a Michael Gemmell cutback when clear around eight yards from goal. Bo’ness went ahead just after the half hour when Morgan’s low cross found Stevenson unmarked at the far post to score easily. Stevenson had another chance shortly afterwards when he hit the post from close range after Michael Moffat seemed to misjudge a long ball forward. As the match moved towards halftime Gemmell and Musselburgh’s Jackie Myles challenged for the ball just in front of where we were standing. The two players slid off the pitch and Jim had to take evasive action to avoid being caught up in the tangle of legs. There was an exchange of words between the pair as they got up and both players were spoken to by the referee. I could not understand how Musselburgh manager Kevin McDonald claimed his player had been ‘slapped’ as there did not appear to be any hands raised in the incident. 

For the second half we moved to stand at the fence nearer the goal Burgh were attacking although this meant standing among the Bo’ness fans who kept us entertained with their comments to the linesman and the Burgh fans behind the goal. King had another shot from the edge of the box before Bo’ness lost Gemmell to a red card after the hour mark. He had been booked minutes earlier for a foul and when he went into another heavy challenge received a second yellow card and then a red. Musselburgh though they had equalised after sixty-seven minutes when Liam Reid squeezed the ball in at the post after a Conor Thomson free-kick hit the far post and rolled along the line. Celebrations were cut short by the linesman flag being raised for offside although i will admit I was not convinced by the decision. Bo’ness were now content to protect their lead although Morgan had a chance when he ran clear from the half-way line but seemed to trip over the ball as he entered the penalty box allowing the Musselburgh defence to clear. Centre-forward Allan McKenzie also had a break. This time the defence  held its line and he ran into Burgh central defender John McManus around twenty yards from goal. Despite claims for a free-kick for obstruction the referee waved play on. Thomson had a good shot from outside the box tipped over the bar by Murphy as Burgh continued to push for an equaliser with five minutes remaining. Despite even keeper Adams coming up for a corner the score remained the same and the referee blew the final whistle after three minutes of injury time. This extended Bo’ness manager Maxi Christie’s unbeaten run since joining the club in January and also gave them their first trophy since moving into the senior ranks.

After the game Jim gave me a lift back into town. He dropped me off at the Cameo in Tollcross. I walked home from there and arrived in time to see the last fifteen minutes of Manchester City’s Premiership winning game at Brighton.


Teams
Musselburgh Athletic: Adams, M. Moffat, McManus, Reid, Whyte, Myles, Gillan, Gregory, Thomson, King, Evans.
Subs: Cherrie. 
Bo'ness United; Murphy, Donnelly, MacDonald, Hunter, Comrie, Gemmell, Morgan, Keast, McKenzie, Prentice, Stevenson.
Subs: Walker, Wright.