Bo'ness boss lays down gauntlet to players after shocking display

The reigning champions looked to be flying as they crushed Bonnyrigg to reach the semi-finals of the Emirates Scottish Cup.

But their hopes of becoming the first side to retain the Super League title took a dent last weekend as they went down 2-0 at Camelon.

"I could blame the state of the pitch and I could blame the referee but I like to think I'm gracious in defeat and Camelon deserved their win," said Newbigging.

"When I looked at their teamsheet before the game, I said to two or three people that I couldn't believe they were down near the bottom of the table as they have some good players.

"At the same time, though, we were appalling apart from the first ten minutes, when we had a couple of chances, one of them seeing their goalkeeper make a magnificent save from Graeme McLaren.

"But, after that, I don't think we would have scored if we had stayed there until Sunday and perhaps even Monday as well."

Tomorrow, Bo'ness - who are 14 points behind leaders Linlithgow but have five games in hand - face another tricky test away to Hill of Beath.

The manager added: "What happened last weekend is over and done with. What matters now is how the players respond to it. I told the players they can't become a bad team overnight, having produced a cracking performance the weekend before against Bonnyrigg.

"We need to bounce back and I believe we can do that, though in this league you certainly can't sit down and pick out a single fixture where you are guaranteed three points.

"I know that from my time at Oakley. We were often at the bottom end of the Super League yet we still managed to beat Linlithgow and also won up at Tayport.

"Hill of Beath is certainly a hard place to go. Jock Finlayson is a shrewd cookie, having been over the course 25 million times."

Newbigging was hoping to have added to his squad by the time last night's deadline passed, but insisted Alloa striker Jim Lister wasn't on his list of targets.

"I'm hoping to bring in a couple to bring the squad up to 23 players - and I'm probably going to need every one of them during the closing weeks of the season," he said.

"I think we're going to be faced with a minimum of 16 games and John Fraser won't be available for any midweek matches due to the fact he works away from home.

"That's one of the reasons I'm looking to bring in a midfielder while I'm also hoping to add another striker. Chris McFadyen does brilliantly for us but he's not 21 any more and he knows that the prospect of playing two or three games a week would take its toll on him.

"Jim Lister is a player I know well, having taken him from Tulliallan to Oakley before Allan McGonigal signed him for Camelon and also took him to Berwick with him.

"I still speak to Jim now and again and I'd certainly be interested if he became available but he's doing not too bad at the moment for Alloa."

Despite last weekend's blip, Newbigging insists Bo'ness can still make it a season to savour by winning the Scottish Cup and retaining that Super League title.

"We certainly think we have a realistic chance in the Scottish Cup, especially with the semi-finals being played over two legs," he declared.

"As for the League, it's certainly going to be hard but not impossible, so we have a lot to look forward to."

Linlithgow are at Lochee tomorrow, Bonnyrigg will be hoping to stop a recent rot at home to Tayport, Bathgate entertain Kelty and Camelon travel to Forfar West End.

In the other game, Scottish Cup semi-finalists Musselburgh Athletic entertain Newtongrange in a fixture that has served up some tasty encounters in recent seasons.

"It is a big game for both teams as we are too close to the bottom for comfort and so are Musselburgh," said Star boss Graeme Armstrong.

"Like us, Musselburgh had a sticky spell at the start of the season but they've got back some of the players they had lost and that has given them a lift."

As an East Lothian man himself, Armstrong is delighted to see Musselburgh in the last four of the Scottish Cup and is urging people in the Honest Toon to get behind David McGlynn's men.

"I understand what a great achievement it is by Musselburgh to make the semi-finals and it is hard to believe that people there don't seem to support the club as much as they do in some other towns.

"I hope they get fully behind the team and help them get through to the final."

McGlynn revealed that Armstrong had been one of the first managers to get on the phone to wish him well in the quarter-final against Kilbirnie Ladeside last month.

"There may be a bit of rivalry between the Musselburgh and Newtongrange fans on the websites, but Graeme and I have great respect for each other," he said.