Aday-trip to Bo'ness offers up plenty of opportunity for a step back in time.

A pint of pale ale and a pickled egg in the Chemical Workers' Social Club, for instance, remains held at 1986 prices. There's also the steam-driven nostalgia of the Bo'ness & Kinneil railway, and if you fancy delving further back in history there's the turfy, rocky remnants of the Antonine Wall to explore.

Newtown Park, home to the footballing gladiators of Bo'ness United, looks about as ancient as that particular Roman fortification - the pointing on the dug-out wall is marginally better - and with some 1800 punters shoehorned into its various nooks and crannies it provided an honest, old school amphitheatre for the visit of Arbroath in the William Hill Scottish Cup.

Every cough, wheeze, snort and curse echoed around the parish. It's one of those tight-knit places where the cry of "oh c'mon, my granny could've scored that" would be greeted by a shriek of "bloody right" from the said granny. The vocal locals were up for this particular fight as they drifted in for the half-one kick-off. By the time the rampaging visitors had rattled in a fifth goal, though, the atmosphere was flatter than an Arbroath smokie. The Scottish League Two leaders were, in the end, simply too strong, too fit, too streetwise and too clinical for their junior league hosts.

It could've been different, of course. Bo'ness, who began with considerable gusto and had Arbroath wheezing around in a frightful haste at times, had an equalising goal by Darren Gribben chalked off as the interval loomed. The wind went out of their sails after that and the classy completion of a hat trick from Simon Murray in the second half burnished Arbroath's eventual dominance.

This striking lark runs in the Murray family. The 22-year-old's dad, Gary, used to hammer in the goals for Montrose before earning a move to Hibernian in the 1980s. Murray Jr also had a stint with the Gable Endies but is now banging them in for the Red Lichties after a spell in the Junior ranks with Tayport, before he took a year out from the game to travel around Australia.

"It's my first senior hat trick," reported the flame-haired youngster with a smile. "I nearly got one the other week [in a 4-0 win over Clyde] but the gaffer took me off after I'd scored two. I was determined to go one better this time."

His old man, a prolific poacher in his pomp, would have been impressed. "My dad never scored a hat trick in the Scottish Cup, so I've got one up on him," added Murray. "He comes along to support and keeps himself quiet at the back . . . but I know where he is. He's not in my face but he'll tell me if I'm doing something wrong. It gives me the drive."

So who would Murray fancy in today's fifth-round draw? "Dundee," declared the Dundee supporter with no hesitation. "We are winning a lot and we don't fear any team."

Bo'ness had scored nine times during two extraordinary encounters with Elgin City in the previous round and they had plenty of forward momentum in the early stages of their tussle with Arbroath. Against the tide, however, some damaging defensive dithering allowed Murray to nip in and give the visitors the lead. The disallowed goal aside, it was an advantage that was never threatened and the menacing axis of Murray and Paul McManus, who would help himself to a brace, put the home side to the sword.

"For 60 minutes I thought we were the better team," said Allan McGonigal, the Bo'ness manager. "Once they got the second, our heads went down and the errors came. I didn't think it would be a 5-0 game, but every mistake was punished."

McGonigal's counterpart, Allan Moore, conceded that the opener had arrived "against the run of play". In the second half, though, it would be his team that would run riot.