Bo'ness United 3-0 East Kilbride: Manager Max factor in BUs' much improved second half display after he reads riot act

Bo’ness United manager Max Christie has revealed that his players’ lacklustre first half display against East Kilbride on Saturday led to him issuing a half-time rollicking which had the desired effect.
Gregor Nicol scores to make it 2-0 for Bo'ness United against East Kilbride (Pics by Scott Louden)Gregor Nicol scores to make it 2-0 for Bo'ness United against East Kilbride (Pics by Scott Louden)
Gregor Nicol scores to make it 2-0 for Bo'ness United against East Kilbride (Pics by Scott Louden)

Although the BUs led 1-0 at the interval in this home South Challenge Cup third round clash thanks to Nicky Locke’s goal, they were below par but this was to change in a much improved second 45 minutes which saw further Bo’ness goals arrive for Gregor Nicol and Keir Macauley.

“We didn’t start the game well,” Christie told the Falkirk Herald. “In fact we were 1-0 up at half-time and we were lucky to be ahead.

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"They had really good chances and they were the better team.

Keir Macauley celebrates making it 3-0 Bo'nessKeir Macauley celebrates making it 3-0 Bo'ness
Keir Macauley celebrates making it 3-0 Bo'ness

"They were really enthusiastic and at it. When you play teams from a league below you sometimes that can happen.

"We had a few choice words at half-time, sorted that and then we ran out worthy winners and played some very good football second half.

"We didn’t start the game properly for whatever reason, that’s the imponderable .

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"We need to keep working on starting games better, but it was a good win with some good goals.

Bo'ness United gaffer Max Christie surveys the actionBo'ness United gaffer Max Christie surveys the action
Bo'ness United gaffer Max Christie surveys the action

"We scored some cracking goals and then in the second half there were some good performances.”

Saturday’s cup clash saw the visitors have an early ‘goal’ disallowed for offside before Bo’ness survived an anxious moment when a cross appeared to hit a BU defender’s hand but the referee waved away East Kilbride’s loud penalty appeals.

Bo’ness then took the lead against the run of play on 32 minutes when Locke scored after playing a one-two.

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Although the hosts improved after the interval, home keeper Andy Murphy had to make a fine save on 66 minutes to stop a shot from distance.

Then came two more fine Bo’ness goals.

First Nicol slotted home from close range after a brilliant run, before Macauley slotted low into the bottom corner after a Flynn cutback.

Although the Lowland League is Bo’ness’s bread and butter, Christie knows a cup run would be nice now his team has reached the last 32.

"The focus is the league,” he said. “But the deeper you get into a cup competition, it tends to grab your attention.”

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Bo’ness, 12th in the league with 26 points from 18 games, have no competitive fixture this Saturday.

Christie said: "We’ve got a few boys with injuries. They’re going to have a week off and just train hard going into the game the following weekend.

"I think we’ve got six or seven out so it will be a wee chance for us just to regroup a bit and go again.

"I’m disappointed with where we are in the league just now.

"We were a new team in the Lowland League. It’s well documented that we had 11 new players coming in and a lot went out.

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"We’re still just trying to get people in who are capable of doing it.

"I would like us to be higher in the league than where we are just now but we’re only halfway, there’s still a lot of games to play.

"So we’ve got to start winning games of football. If we get into the top six I think that would be a success.”