Bo'ness United: Linlithgow defeat sums up our season so far, says stalwart Gemmell

Tom Grant missed a penalty early on for BU but they still went in at the break ahead thanks to an Alassan Jones strike.

However, a double from Linlithgow’s Alan Sneddon in the second half sent them through to the third round of the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup.

“The game should have been out of sight by half-time in our favour,” midfielder Gemmell said. “We were on top and if we went in 3-0 up at the break, no-one could have complained.

“It is all about managing the game. I’ve played in so many of these derbies over the years and it is always tight – fine margins are the key.

"We missed a lot of clear-cut chances. I can’t remember Musa having a save to make but he’s picked the ball out the net twice.

“Very rarely do you come away from one having missed a penalty but still having gotten the right result. I’m not saying that was the be all and end all, but we’ve missed like eight or nine penalties this season.

“It would have got us ahead earlier in that first period. It was a crucial point in the game. That has been the story of our season. I would almost rather that we just took a hammering on Saturday rather than lose another game that we were all thinking we should have won.”

BU currently sit in 11th spot in the Scottish Lowland Football League, having only won once in their last eight outings.

Gemmell said of the season so far: “It has been frustrating. We have played poorly in games, of course we have, but in the main we’ve been matching the opposition.

“Bo’ness is a club that has had a lot of success over the past ten years or so, but we are perhaps victims of our own success in a sense.

“We are playing against a really high calibre of player in a strong Lowland League. The teams are really advanced and we are still new to this division. Competing is difficult because you find you match even the best teams, but you lose out because they capitalise on key moments.

“We want to have a strong finish to the season and we have the league cup too.”