2022/23 – Bonnyrigg Rose 1 v 2 Stirling Albion

New Dundas Park, SPFL League 2, 14/2/23

Me 265, Wee Man 137

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic Football Club

Founded – 1881

Nickname – The Rose. The Rosey Posey

Selected Honours – Lowland League – 2021/22. Scottish Junior Cup – 1965/66 and 1977/78. East of Scotland League – 2018/19. East Region Superleague – 2008/09, 2011/12, 2015/16 and 2017/18. East of Scotland Junior Cup– 1897/98, 1962/63, 1985/86, 1986/87, 2002/03, 2005/06 and 2012/13.

Random Fact – You cannot speak about Bonnyrigg Rose and not mention the fact the Sean Connery played for the club in the 50’s. However, more importantly Aberdeen Hall of Famer Jim Hermiston, a Scottish Cup winner in 1969/70 was signed from the club in 1965 by the Dons.

New Dundas Park is one of those grounds that has passed me by due to weather related cancellations in the past. So it seemed fitting we finally get to visit on a rearranged match. This taking advantage of the current mid term break from school. No pre-games shenanigans as Wee Man had a sports club thing during the day leaving enough time to travel down and grab the game. However it was a last minute decision. Pre-sports Wee Man wanted fitba on the TV(all that was on was Champions League, gads). But once I picked him up he wanted out and about. Good lad. To Midlothian we went.

On arrival at NDP we had half an hour to burn taking us into the Social Club for a swift pint and juice. But Wee Man was having itchy feet and wanted a kick about in the ground. As we walked around the pitch we bumped into a local from up our way Jock (for the third time this season). 150 odd miles and we bump into another Dons fan ticking off New Dundas. Coincidentally leaving him only the abomination that is Meadowbank let to visit, the same as me.

The game started with a bang and after a long throw was met by Danny Denholm who pulled out a great save from Paddy Martin but the keeper was let down by his defence as they were all caught flat footed leaving Dale Carrick free to lash home the rebound. The game huffed and puffed for spells after this but it was no issue to me as i tucked into my first ever donner pie. A delight as expected. Although the quality of fitba on the pitch didn’t match the pie you could not fault either teams effort. They were both putting in a good shift. The next big chance fell to Rose man Kieren Mitchell who’s powerful effort went just wide. The same man came even closer a couple of minutes later, this time curling an effort off the post. Both teams were creating half chances but Bonnyrigg seemed to have the better but also seemed to go for the wrong option on some occasions. One which springs to mind is when Arnott struck over the bar when he went for too much power over placement. The Bino’s best chance before the half was out fell to goal scorer Carrick but this time Martin got good hands to the effort.

HT 0 v 1

Half time saw Wee Man make a couple of pals while having a kick about. Aaron and Rory were to keep company until we left New Dundas at full time from here. This gave me the chance to blether to a twitter acquaintance Ross for a minute until the second half kicked off where I was again in the company of Jock. We were both in agreement on how the first half went. Good amounts of effort but the quality of finishing could have been a lot better with the goal being a poor one to give away. The second half was much and such the same too. Stirling had a good chance to double their lead when Banner headed an effort just wide. The Rose couldn’t believe their luck when it looked certain an equaliser was coming but Duffy was on hand to brilliantly clear off the line. Albion were then handed a huge chance to double their lead when they were awarded a penalty after a rash challenge in the bock. Dale Carrick stepped up and missed as it crashed off the post. Wee Man said the keeper “just saved it it on to the post”. I never saw it but I wont doubt him. Fair play to Martin for guessing correctly. This got Bonnyrigg tails up and they went after the equaliser and the subs came on in their droves. But with all their pushing the next big chance fell to the Binos via a long ranger(unsure who) but Martin did brilliantly to tip over. But Bonnyrigg were definitely the better team at this point and finally got their deserved equaliser (seconds after I said to Jock , “if this finished one all you would say it was a fair result”). The corner was drilled into the box and Kevin Smith rose (no pun intended) and thundered his header at goal and in. This with around five minutes to go. Could The Rosey Posey be heading to joint on points with second bottom Albion Rovers? No being the answer as they threw away the lead in the last minute by allowing Stirling to play through them with ease leaving recently introduced sub Greig Spence wide open to slot past Martin sending the Bino faithful behind the goal into raptures. A sickener for the home side and you could almost feel the collective head drops of the locals in the air. These are they types of errors that will aid with relegation. Which I hope for Bonnyrigg is not the case. As Jock said to me. “An A for endeavour but its useless when the team shows naivety when defending”. A good summation that I am sure the Rose fans and management will agree with. Two soft goals given away.

On the club. I love the ground. Its great to see what really is a Junior ground in the SPFL. Complete with slope I might add. On the punters that fill it. 817 were there tonight. They have the highest average in the league and they support their team very well. Including their youthful ultra brigade. The roar for the goal was immense for this level. I also enjoyed the spirit there. Form the helpful committee lady pre game(took our photo too)to the barmen in the social club being fine dudes. Then there were the kids speaking to the subs and looking starstruck for example but the players making sure they kids got a blether. It really seems a friendly place to grab a game. But there were plenty of kids kicking about in general. Hopefully the Rose are their team and not just their “wee team”. It was great to see.

A good night on the whole. A 324 mile drive on a whim, more than worth it for sure.

Entrance – Me £12, Wee Man free

Attendance – 817

Pie – £7, Pie x 2, coffee, crisps

Pint – £4.80, Tennents and Irn Bru

Score Predictions – Me 0 v 3, Wee Man 0 v 4

Season Score Prediction Totals – Me 1 v 2 Wee Man