Philp believes Bo'ness can end search for a trophy

Ross Philp joined Bo'ness in 2014 from Kelty Hearts

So far, it hasn’t gone to plan with the Newtown Park men having gone without silverware since they won the title in 2014.

PE teacher Philp is desperate to change that and is hopeful they can end the campaign by getting their hands on the East of Scotland Cup.

They host Premier League Forfar West End tomorrow with a final spot up for grabs against either Fauldhouse United or Dundonald Bluebell. Last season they lost out to Hill of Beath in the final on penalties.

Former Kelty Hearts man Philp believes they’ll never have a better chance to win a trophy. “To have a home draw against a team in the league below in the semis, you would hope would give us a good chance of making the final. Hopefully we can win it this year.

“We are desperate to make up for last season, especially seeing the teams that are left in the cup. We got good draws last season as well and we probably should’ve won at least one of the two cups. I think now, because all our league games are out the way, we owe it to ourselves to get something out of it.

“Fauldhouse will be focussing a lot on the league and making sure they stay up and Dundonald will probably be the same. I think they will come up anyway but they will still be going to try and win their league [Premier League] as well. We are the only team that doesn’t have more games to play.”

Given Bo’ness’ league campaign is complete, they can put all their focus on ending the season with a trophy. Should they reach the final, they will have a two-week break without a fixture with the match pencilled in for June 11.

Philp added: “It might do us a favour in some way and get a few boys back fit, but at the same time you are probably wanting to get a game in between. It will be quite hard though, who is going to want a friendly at this stage of the year?”