Bonnyrigg Rose go clear at the top

Monday November 30th 2015

Bonnyrigg Rose Manager, Robbie Horn writes:

A fantastic result this weekend which for me was down to team spirit, fitness, hard work and a will to win. I honestly can’t praise the players highly enough for their efforts yesterday and that includes the players on the bench too. I think we were are all just about on the pitch when that winning goal went in and it was great to see the reaction from everyone on the Bonnyrigg side yesterday. I said that the feeling I got when we scored late on against Bo’ness was one of the best feeling I’ve had in football for a long time well this one was right up there with it.

The week got a off to a disappointing start with Conor Thompson deciding that it was time for him to move on and both parties came to a mutual agreement which allowed Conor to be released from the club. Conor is a great lad with bundles of ability and I can understand his frustrations and we wish him well for the future and I have no doubt Conor will find a good club easy enough. I have known Conor for a few years now which makes it difficult but there has been no fall out and I’m afraid that’s football sometimes and we all move on. I’m hopeful we might be able to bring someone else in.

We had a couple of niggling injuries during the week with Jonny with his ankle and Kiddo taking a knock on his shin last week in the Scottish. As it turned out Jonny, who was probably struggling for the game, had to rush away to take a family member to hospital on Saturday morning ruling him out the game so we all hope everything is ok there. Kiddo was struggling to train with his knock and it wasn’t really till Wednesday after training on the Tuesday that the bruising came out on his injury and his shin really did swell up. The big man trained a bit on Thursday and on Saturday morning said he was fit if required. That left me a couple of decisions to make. Ruaridh coming in for Jonny was an easy one but did I risk Kiddo was the question. Just from seeing him train I thought it was too much of a gamble. I admire him for making himself available but just from watching him warm up you could tell he was struggling and he knew it himself. Nonetheless the big man sat on the bench and was as vocal and as involved in the game as the rest of us.

The game being played on the new astro, which I liked, was played in really difficult conditions with strong winds and driving rain which itself was a big test of character let alone the fact you are playing against the league champions. The players showed their character in abundance, Michael was solid in the goals, the back 4 outstanding with Ruaridh slipping in really well, the midfield competing really well with Lewis showing great energy and the front 3 working their socks off with Kieran causing Kelty all sorts of problems. I thought we tried to get the ball down and play when we could but the conditions and the way the opposition played made that difficult. There wasn’t a lot clear cut chances in the game and you always got the feeling that one goal would settle it.

Again I thought we looked strong late in the game and you always get a wee moan from players about the fitness exercises you do at training on a Tuesday night but the last two games has shown me and hopefully the players how important it is. So be prepared for Tuesday boys!! We just kept going and when Kieran burst into the box, was fouled and their player was sent off you obviously think this is it. Fraser had not long gone on as a sub and showed real belief in stepping up to take the penalty and I would have put my money on him putting it away but it wasn’t to be and I thought that maybe our chance had gone. We picked ourselves up again and kept the pressure on and get our reward from a great strike from Moyesie with the aid of a very slight deflection. The big man had been an absolute rock all day and it was great moment for him which he thoroughly deserved. People said after the game it was a fluke but you will probably not believe this when I tell you that he actually strikes the ball really well in the shooting at training so it was no great shock to us.

There was a wee bit of tension when we left the pitch and a couple of unsavoury incidents and comments but these things happen in the heat of the moment especially when a game is won or lost like that and I thought the players behaved in a credible manner as they left the pitch. Win, lose or draw you should try to behave in a professional manner after the game, shake hands, have a beer or juice and a chat about the game. I must mention the travelling support again yesterday who braved the conditions – it was much appreciated. I’m not really a Facebook follower but the amount of likes for the clubs page and likes and comments on the Facebook posts put up by the club have really shot up in the last couple of months which is great to see and shows there is a tremendous support for the club.

We have got ourselves into a decent position but it is no more than that as we are not even half way through this season. There is a long way to go and we have a tricky game at home to St Andrews this Saturday who have beaten us already this season. However we are on a great run at the moment and go into the game full of confidence.

Originally posted on www.bonnyriggrosefc.co.uk/

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