A first half onslaught by The Rose up at the Canniepart in some terrible conditions ensured they went into the festive fixtures at the top of the Superleague Table.

There were some nervous looks all around when The Rose arrived to meet the conditions up at Tayport for their latest East Superleague fixture against Tayport, which weren’t alleviated when it was rumoured that the referee has concerns about the fixture going ahead due to the strong wind.

However the game kicked up with the Rose playing into a gale. It was a day for playing the ball on the ground and the Rose had their first attack on 6 minutes. Stuart Roseburgh broke down his left flank and passed to Renton, who played a crossfield pass to Currie who made for the byline but his cross went out for a corner. Roseburgh’s inswinging corner bounced in the box and David White headed in for his thied goal of the season which sent the Rose travelling support into raptures.

Bonnyrigg thought they had extended the lead four minutes later when a well placed header from triallist Paul Harvey was chalked off for offside after a pinpoint cross from McKenna.

Not to be outdone the Rose doubled their advantage on 22 minutes after a good move which started at the back with White feeding Currie with the ball and after a one two with Renton the ball went out for another corner. Another viscious inswinger from Roseburgh was only partially cleared, with Archibald controlling the ball at the edge of the penalty box his quick feet forced a Tayport defender into a lunge and the referee who was beside the offense had no hesitation to pointing to the spot. Currie cooly slotted the penalty away high to the keeper’s right into the net.
Three minutes into injury time at the end of the first half the Rose effectively kiiled off the tie. A long ball to Harvey was well controlled and he held up play until he had support, which came in the form of Paul Currie. His cross was met by a helpless Tayport defender who despite his best efforts couldn’t avert it from heading goalwards and Bonnyrigg ended the half three up.

The biggest concern the travelling support had going into the second half was whether the referee was going to abandon the game as the conditions worsened. Thankfully for the New Dundas Park men that wasn’t the case and despite a couple of minor scares for goalkeeper Paterek he did well to keep his concentration on a day that wasn’t favouring the goalkeepers with the swirling wind.

Bonnyrigg made it four close to full time which started with a run from Alan Horne, and with the Tayport defense continuing to back off he kept going until he struck a delicate lob that had the keeper beaten all ends up only for it to strike the crossbar. Had it went in votes for goal of the season would have closed, however skipper Ross Archibald was quickest to react and headed in the rebound to make it the biggest win recorded by The Rose up at the Canniepart in The Super League era and makes it eight victories on the bounce for Max Christie’s men.

Tayport:

Bonnyrigg: Patarek, Horne, White, Woodburn, Archibald, Roseburgh (Manson), Gemmill (McDonald), McKenna, Currie, Renton, Triallist (Harvey) Subs not used: Hay, Grady

HT 0-3 FT 0-4