MATCH REPORT
Date : 4th March 2023
Opposition : Bo’ness Athletic
Venue : Home
Scorers : Rhys Bloomfield, Drew Cummings (pen)
Booked : Drew Cummings, Rhys Bloomfield
Sent Off : None
Attendance : 52
Team Lineup :
Niall Frampton
Joao Vieira
Kieran Cromarty
Evan Smith
Rhys Dixon
Rhys Bloomfield
Drew Cummings
Jack Forster
Regan Graham
Craig Bell
Jay Atkinson
Subs :
Stevie Mason
Jack Cummings on for Jay Atkinson 69 mins
Adam Deans on for Kieran Cromarty 81 mins
Match Report :
With the early group stages jettisoned, this season’s East of Scotland League Cup is a straightforward knock out competition. Tweedmouth were given a tough draw against high flying and high scoring Division Three leaders Bo’ness Athletic. Beaten only once in the League so far this season, they have averaged six goals per game and fewer than one against in each outing.
It looked ominous for the hosts when they fell behind after barely five minutes. Tiwi Daramola streaked down the left to square the ball across to former Glasgow Rangers youth and Arbroath player Dylan Paterson to finish off.
Tweedmouth continued to struggle to contain the visitors’ speed and skill on the ball. Jack Forster stepped in just in time when Paterson threatened to set up a second goal with a pass into the box. Daramola went on to hit the home bar before Rhys Bloomfield sent the ball way over Athletic’s with an optimistic crack from 30 yards. In spite of the miss, this was the first signal that Tweedmouth had recovered from their shaky start.
Regan Graham collected a stray pass to also shoot from outside the penalty area, this time the ball finishing just a foot over the top. Shortly afterwards, Rangers were level. Bloomfield rounded off an attack up the right by superbly drilling the ball into the far corner of the net.
Indirectly, Tweedmouth’s second goal, around the half hour, also came from the same direction. Two passes on, in front of goal, Craig Bell’s ankle took a tap from a defender causing his contact with the ball to be misdirected. Drew Cummings comfortably slotted home the resulting penalty kick.
Bell was unlucky not to make it 3-1 with a strong hooked shot on the end of Joao Vieira’s 37th minute pass, once more from the right side of the field.
Niall Frampton prevented Bo’ness equalising before the interval by cutting out Jonny Mitchell’s cross intended for Daramola. However, it was another high ball from Craig Snedden minutes into the second half which was credited as the visitors’ second goal. Frampton clearly showed that he had the ball in his hands from Snedden’s free kick but the referee ruled it had crossed the line.
Another away score seemed certain when Ryan Shanks played in Daramola but the Kelty Hearts man, currently loaned back to Bo’ness, was probably as surprised as everyone else to see the ball dribble a whisker outside the post. Coincidentally, Christopher Ogilvie had suffered a similar fate earlier in the game with the score at 1-all.
Tweedmouth also missed a good chance when Bell and Jay Atkinson advanced in tandem. The former supplied a good pass but goalie Fraser Currid managed to get in the way of Atkinson’s shot.
Daramola finally got on the score sheet in the 70th minute to put his team back in front. Tweeedmouth manager Neil Oliver believed his side had matched the visitors for much of the match and didn’t always get the rub of the green yet there was no doubting the quality of the final goal. It was Daramola’s second after he received a perfectly flighted chip from former Berwick Ranger Grant Rose who had come on as a substitute.
Bo’ness remained in the ascendancy during the final quarter. Using both hands, Frampton stopped Ryan Robertson scoring. He kept him out again after Rangers replaced veteran centre half Kieran Cromarty, who exemplified their fighting spirit despite being dwarfed by counterpart and Bo’ness captain Blair Woodburn at free kicks and corners.