'Ref said he dived in recklessly' - Bo'ness United assistant boss Ian Little has no complaints about Ryan Stevenson sending off in win at Gretna

United went 1-0 up on 20 minutes when Nick Locke scrambled the ball home after an Alassan Jones corner.

After a tremendous Musa Dibaga save from Lewis Turner’s curling shot preserved this advantage, the BUs doubled their lead when Lennon Walker shot home from a tight angle early in the second half.

Although Sam Muir pulled one back from six yards following a Gretna corner, Ryan Stevenson made it 3-1 on 75 minutes after a good United passing move.

The scoring was rounded off by Tom Grant’s low drive six minutes later, with Bo’ness ace Stevenson receiving a straight red card for a bad tackle four minutes into injury time.

United assistant manager Ian Little told the Falkirk Herald: “Ryan was really good on the day. He was up and down the line from right back all day, great crosses into the box.

"He showed a bit of composure for his goal by slotting it into the corner. I enjoyed seeing a full back get up there, it was a great goal.

"The sending off was disappointing because Ryan was probably man of the match.

"We asked the referee why he sent Ryan off and he said it was because he dived in recklessly.

"Ryan said he was a bit late.”

Bo’ness, 11th with 21 points from 14 games, host bottom club Dalbeattie Star this Saturday with kick-off at 3pm. The BUs then visit Cowdenbeath in the league next Tuesday with kick-off at 7.45pm.

Little said: “We’ve got to make sure we’re on top of the ball on Saturday. No matter that Dalbeattie are at the bottom, I always find that if you let teams back into games they have a wee spell and it all depends on how you react to it.

"If you don’t react it becomes tough.

"It’s such a strange league. We are just sitting looking at it and going: ‘Wow’.

"Teams are all beating each other and you just scratch your head and ask how these things happen.

"We’ve done well in games and got beaten and you just go: ‘Really!’.

"It was a right tough game against Cowdenbeath in the cup. They showed a real attitude to fight.

"We just go in with a blank canvas against them. It will be a tough game again but we will be looking to get three points to try and improve our position in the league.”