League match day 9 sees Bonnyrigg on the road for the last time this year, making the short trip to East Lothian to face Haddington Athletic on Saturday. The Hi Hi have been fairly regular cup opponents over the past few seasons, however this is the first league encounter since season 2001/02 which was the last season before the introduction of the Superleagues.
Given the strong season they had last year they would probably have expected to be higher up the table than their current eight position. However they can justifiably point to several instances where they gave conceded late goals which has seen them drop crucial points (Dalkeith & Burntisland to name a couple). There have been several changes to the squad of last season also, with the latest arrival being goalkeeper Dale Cornet from Musselburgh (highly rated forward Scott Moffat went in the other direction). They will however be buoyed by their latest result, which was a resounding 9-1 victory at Meggetland v Tynecastle (Tynie manager Chris Scott resigned shortly after) and will no doubt be going into this fixture full of confidence.
Saturday will see Robbie Horn back in the dugout since his return to the Rose, having watched last Saturday's impressive victory at Alloa v BSC Glasgow from the stands. He will be keen to keep the momentum going that has been built up by our interim managers and has the benefit of working with most of the current squad in his previous stint. Hoskins is unavailable having had to be helped off the pitch last Saturday so will sit this one out.
The last time the two sides met was in the last 16 of the East of Scotland Cup at Millfield last season. The Rose ended up 5-1 winners on that occasion with goals from Wilson, K Young, McGachie (2) & Martyniuk (Any three of the five that day could have been our goal of the season), with Andy Jones scoring for the home side.
With the international break underway a big travelling support is expected to turn up, as they have been all season. Admission is £6/£3 and those looking for a light (and not so light) refreshment before or after the game is always made very welcome at the nearby Bowling Club.