Thursday November 23rd 2023
Rose's second goal came from a Lee Currie free kick.. All photographs by Joe Gilhooley LRPS.
Match report by Brendan Parkinson, of Bonnyrigg Rose FC
Bonnyrigg Rose 4 East Fife 2
Bonnyrigg Rose welcomed the visit of East Fife in a mid-table clash in cinch League Two at NDP on Tuesday evening. Robbie Horn made 3 changes to the team that lost to Forfar Athletic at the weekend, with Jonny Stewart, Callum Connolly and Smart Osadolor all coming into the side, replacing Josh Grigor, Robbie McGale and Liam Buchanan. The changes of personnel also came with a change of shape on the night, a change that paid dividends.
Rose looked to come out hot out of the gates with a strong start after a hard few results but couldn’t take any of the early opportunities. Rose pressed from the front and upon his return to the starting 11, Osadolor returned to the scoresheet and he grabbed his second goal of the season, latching onto lee Currie cross and guiding his left-footed effort beyond Allan Fleming just before the 20 minute mark.
The visitors replied shortly after Osadolor’s opener with Nathan Austin capitalising on a defensive miscommunication and heading it over Paddy Martin allowing East Fife a route back into the game.
Rose looked for an instant response through Taylor Sutherland who injected some pace into the Rose frontline, pouncing upon a poor touch from the East Fife defender and forcing Fleming to produce a top stop to deny his effort.
The Fifers thought they were in front just before the break after Austin headed home from a corner kick, but he was deemed to have fouled Kerr Young in the buildup.
Rose come out for the second-half with a point to prove as another chance for Taylor Sutherland saw Fleming get in the way once again.
Rose would eventually find the goal to put them back in front as Lee Currie’s free-kick from range evaded everyone inside the box and found the back of the net.
Rose would continue to ride the wave of momentum and were awarded a penalty on the hour mark after Sutherland was brought down in the box. Neil Martyniuk would fire it into the right corner to make Rose’s lead a lot more comfortable.
The Fifers kept fighting and in the 68th minute a showcase of individual brilliance from substitute Conor McManus saw him weave past a few defenders before slotting past Martin.
The atmosphere was growing tense around NDP and a pair of attacking substitutions provided the spark needed to see the game through as Keiran McGachie and Dean Watson both took to the field.
McGachie was brought down in the box only a matter of moments after coming on and once again Martyniuk was composed from the spot, adding an impressive 7th goal of the season and restoring Rose’s two-goal cushion.
Despite chances for both sides in the final 10 minutes, Rose took all 3 points on the night, a victory that will provide a massive confidence boost heading into the trip to Cliftonhill to face Albion Rovers in the Scottish Cup 3rd round on Saturday.
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