Bo’ness United, Dunipace and Camelon Juniors all given byes to round two of next football season’s East of Scotland Qualifying Cup
Bo’ness United, Dunipace and Camelon Juniors have all been given byes to round two of next football season’s East of Scotland Qualifying Cup and they’ll all kick off at home as they bid for that piece of silverware.
Scottish Lowland Football League East sides Bo’ness and Dunipace will go up against the East of Scotland Football League division one south-east conference’s Vale of Leithen and EoSFL division one’s Whitehill Welfare respectively in the 32-tie second round.
EoSFL premier division outfit Camelon have also been drawn against lower-league opposition, the EoSFL division two north-west conference’s Livingston United, as they begin their defence of the cup after beating Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic 4-2 in a penalty shootout following open play in this year’s final, at Armadale in West Lothian in April, concluding with a 1-1 scoreline.
Dates have yet to be fixed for this year’s opening ties but most of last season’s first and second rounds were played in August so the same is likely to apply next time round.
Manager Stuart Hunter’s Bo’ness went out in round three of last season’s qualifying cup, losing 5-4 at home to Edinburgh’s Civil Service Strollers on penalties in October after ending open play tied at 2-2. That followed a 6-2 second-round knockout of Dundonald Bluebell on the road in Fife last August.
Dunipace gaffer Danny Smith’s team were eliminated at the first time of asking last season, losing 2-1 away to Berwick Rangers in Northumberland in round two last August.
Camelon’s progress to last season’s final started with a 3-1 second-round knockout of Bathgate Thistle on the road in West Lothian last August, followed by wins by 2-0 at home to Fife’s Oakley United in November in round three, 4-1 hosting Coldstream in round four in December and 2-1 at home to Linlithgow rose in round five in February.
Manager Thomas Scobbie’s Mariners then got the better of West Lothian’s Broxburn Athletic by 3-1 in their March semi-final ahead of claiming the trophy for the first time the month after.
Bo’ness last played Vale in the second round of the same competition in August 2022, winning 2-0 on the road in Innerleithen in the Borders.
Dunipace have met former EoSFL first division rivals Whitehill Welfare more recently, beating them 2-0 away in Midlothian in March 2025 in round one of the East of Scotland Football League Cup, and the same goes for Camelon and their upcoming cup opponents, having handed them a 7-0 hiding on the road in November 2023 in round two of that season’s King Cup.
Only two first round-ties are being played this coming season and they see Edinburgh’s Hutchison Vale at home to Pumpherston and another West Lothian side, Whitburn, hosting Borderers Hawick Royal Albert.