East of Scotland round-up: Bo'ness Athletic earn Scottish Cup spot after Cup Winners Shield success

Bo'ness Athletic boss Willie Irvine - his side will play in next season's Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup next season (Photo: Alan Murray)

Bo’ness Athletic have earned a coveted spot in next season’s Scottish Cup after a 7-0 win over South of Scotland side Nithsdale Wanderers last Saturday at Newtown Park in the Cup Winners Shield.

Willie Irvine’s team knew that a victory would seal them a place in Scotland’s premier cup competition after they had already defeated West of Scotland outfit Drumchapel United 3-1 last midweek.

The shield competition sees three cup winning teams from the East, West and South of Scotland league associations pitted up against each other for a place in the Scottish Cup proper.

It is likely that Athletic will enter next year’s competition during an extra preliminary stage, which took place this term due to the record amount of teams that were entered into the competition.

Meanwhile, Camelon Juniors put in a five-star showing at home last Saturday against bottom club Vale of Leithen to keep their East of Scotland First Division promotion hopes alive.

The Mariners 5-0 win sees them move back into second spot in the table, although Whitburn two points behind them in third do have two games in hand while St Andrews United are also two points behind while having three games in hand.

It looks likely that Allan Moore’s team will need to win all of their remaining fixtures to stand a chance of gaining automatic promotion back to the top tier.

They host Preston Athletic this Saturday at home while leaders Dunipace, who are already promoted, host Kirkcaldy & Dysart. In the Second Division, table-toppers Bo’ness Athletic host Burntisland Shipyard.