Bo’ness snatch points with added time winner

GRETNA 2008 suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final seconds of their Lowland League clash at Bo’ness last Saturday. Despite taking a 2-0 lead in the first half, The Anvils lost the match 4-3, with the Bo’ness winner coming in the 97th minute. Iain Anderson opened the scoring at a windy Newtown Park before Sean McKenzie doubled the advantage with a curling effort. After the break Bo’ness pulled one back as Aldin El-Zubaidi headed past Gretna trialist keeper Jay Kennedy. And five minutes later it was all square when Kieran Mitchell broke free and slotted home. As the hosts looked to complete the comeback, Anderson scored his second as he pounced upon a defensive error. But Bo’ness did not give in, and they levelled again on 77 minutes when Tom Grant scored directly from a corner. Gretna then had the ball in the net, but it was disallowed for offside. The hosts were in the driving seat in the final minutes, they kept going and grabbed a winner in the dying seconds of extra time as Adam Masson shot low into the net. Assistant manager Kevin Somerville said: “I think if you went along to the game today and parted with your hard earned money then you’re probably pleased with the level of entertainment that you got. “(The 2-0 lead at halftime) should’ve been enough. That’s Hearts where we scored four at home (and got a draw) and today where we scored three away from home. That should be enough to win you games. “I think last year our issue was we didn’t get the ball in the net enough and we were pretty good defensively. “It feels a little bit like we’ve addressed the front end but we’ve lost sight of what made us such a competitive team last year where we defended our goal for our lives.” Tomorrow afternoon Gretna head to Forthbank to play Stirling University. Somerville added: “It’ll be tough. They’ll be energetic, young and enthusiastic. They’ll also be well organised and tactically well set-up. “I think we’ve managed to get the group to a point where we think we can win wherever we go. “But the key thing is – we need to stop the ball going in the back of our net as often. That’s absolutely key.”