Battling Broxburn reach the cup final
Bo’ness United ......... 0 Broxburn Athletic .... 3 Broxburn Athletic stunned their hosts as they booked their place in the Fife and Lothians Cup final.
The Burn dismantled the heavilyfavoured Newtown Park side to set up the showdown clash with Premier League side Tranent on June 7.
Max Christie’s men withstood an early onslaught before taking the lead through Darren Cole on 25 minutes.
Athletic, who had a numerical advantage for the entire second half after Bo’ness full-back Michael Gemmell was shown a second yellow card just before the break, doubled their lead in the 63rd minute when Kieran Anderson calmly rounded the goalkeeper and tapped the ball home.
The match was done and dusted seven minutes from time when Zander Miller lashed the ball beyond Andy Murphy to score Broxburn’s third with the final whistle sparking jubilant scenes amongst the travelling supporters.
It could all have been so different, though, if not for an inspired display by Broxburn keeper Connor Wallace in the early stages and a shocking decision from referee Colin Whyte that would prove to be a turning point in the contest.
Ross Philp squandered a great chance for the hosts inside three minutes when he blazed over before Grant Gavin bravely blocked a thunderous Martin Wright effort.
Wallace would then produce a fantastic save when he tipped a Roddy MacLennan strike wide of the post before stopping a Robert Sloan freekick.
With Alan McGonigal’s men having all the pressure, the ref made a stunning blunder when he awarded the home side a penalty after Wallace had clattered MacLennan despite the ball trickling over the line for a goal.
The stopper made the most of an unexpected lifeline by producing a stunning save from Wright’s penalty to keep the game deadlocked.
And Athletic made the most of their fortune with former Rangers and Livingston defender Cole ramming the ball home from close range with his side’s first real chance of the contest.
Gemmell’s foolish dismissal meant the visitors were firmly in command at the interval with the game having turning completely on its head from the opening stages.
That’s when the prolific duo of Anderson and Miller struck once again for the free-scoring Burn with second half finishes to set up their tilt for the trophy next week.