Stuart Hunter: Bo'ness United's 'dream start' in Lowland League has increased expectations

The BU sit top of the table after the opening three fixtures after following up wins against Gala Fairydean Rovers and Berwick Rangers by defeating promotion hopefuls Tranent Juniors 2-1 on Saturday at Foresters Park.

On that match, which saw the side go up again ex-manager Max Christie, BU legend Hunter says there was no extra motivation to pick up the three points.

"The narrative surrounding the game didn’t really appeal to me in the slightest,” he said. “All of my focus was on the match itself and seeing how we could get three points.

“My relationship with Max (Christie) at Bo’ness was great and I wish him nothing but the best at Tranent.

“As cliche as it sounds, going there against the odds probably in most people’s eyes, my sole focus was on what we could do to make it three wins from three.

“We put ourselves into a brilliant position by beating Gala and then by going down to Berwick and grinding out a win.

“Going into the game, we carried that into our performance and we went toe to toe with a Tranent side full of experienced quality players.

“I have to commend not only our attitude and shape but the way we did play when it was on. I think we were worthy of the three points.

“When I looked at our opening three games, with Berwick Rangers and Tranent away from home, I had a realistic points tally in mind and it certainly wasn’t nine! The expectation has increased now.”

On the day, first-half strikes from Tom Grant and Scott Dalziel sealed the three points despite a coverted second-half penalty from Kallum Higginbotham.

Hunter believes the key to his side's success so far has been the simplicity of their approach, which has partly been down to how little time he has had with his new-look squad.

He said: “When I came into the club it was late in the day. There was probably some concern around the club, I think that is fair to say. We didn’t even have pre-season friendlies organised.

“We had to build a squad quick and move faster than you would like. There was a hell of a lot of work to do.

“But the people behind the scenes the people have worked ever so hard to make things happen. The building blocks are in place now.

“We haven’t tried to overcomplicate things. We are keeping things simple. I have a way of playing and I let the guys carry it out. I don’t get too involved on the touchline.”

Bo’ness now face bottom club Gretna 2008 at home this Saturday, and despite their woes so far, the boss doesn't buy the idea that it will be an easy game.

“The goal now is to keep the standards high,” Hunter said. “I’m not interested in Gretna’s previous results. I am interested in how Bo’ness will go about picking up three points.

“We need to approach this match with the exact same mentality that we approached the first three matches. If we don’t then it could be a long and painful afternoon for us on Saturday.”