Bo'ness Athletic go down to seven men in cup defeat

Goals from Tiwi Daramola and Craig Sneddon saw Irvine’s side hold on while down to ten men, then in extra time they lost three players and were denied a penalty claim in the final seconds of the game.

Irvine said of the match: “It wasn’t a nasty game at all. The referee just carded anyone for speaking to him in any manner at all. I’m not too bothered because we can’t play another five or six weeks with two matches a week.

“The other team were apologising for what was going on at some points, which says it all really. It was a farce.

“Playing without a linesman in a cup match at our level isn’t helpful and it is impossible to have a decent, fair game.”

With a trip to Pumpherston in East of Scotland Football League first division conference X on Saturday being a first league outing in two months for Athletic, he is just happy to get a break from cup action.

“I’ve never had a season like it with the amount of cup matches we’ve been involved in,” said Irvine. “It’s tough because we have been victims of our own success in that sense.

“Players are coming back from injury and the league is set up for an exciting finish, so that is our main focus as we want to win the league.”

Athletic currently sit in second place on 54 points after 22 matches, with two games in hand on table-toppers Whitburn.