A five-star performance was exactly what the doctor ordered. A rampant Rose side duly delivered.

It was imperative that Bonnyrigg Rose bounced back against Vale of Leithen after they crashed out of the Soccer Shop Challenge Cup on Saturday, and that they did.

From the off, the Rose looked in the mood and hungry for goals. It only took three minutes for their early pressure to pay off. Scott Gray combined well with Dean Brett down the right, before turning, cutting and driving centrally to the edge of the D, where he unleashed a well driven shot into the bottom right-hand corner.

Much joy for the Rose came down the right, Brett, as he so often does, hugged the touchline for the majority of the night and linked up well with all those around him. No one more in the first half than Lee Currie.

In a lovely little passage of play, Brett found himself with space to venture inwards. He was perhaps a little lucky with a ricochet off a Vale defender, before he chipped the ball into the path of Currie. The Rose playmaker nodded the ball down to Keiran McGachie, who used his strength to hold the ball before Currie continued his run, fooling a helpless Vale defender, prior to slotting past McGinley on his left side again.

Robbie Horn, with an already depleted squad, was forced into an early substitution as Jamie Docherty made way for João Baldé with less than 20 minutes played.

Rose were relentless in their pursuit for their third and it didn’t take long for them to find it. Roles were reversed from the second goal, Currie turned provider for McGachie. The dead ball specialist whipped in a pin-point corner, straight to the feet of the Rose number 9, who guided the ball into the far corner with the deftest of touches.

Eager from the second he entered the park, Livingston loanee Baldé was on the hunt for his first Bonnyrigg goal. Brett yet again was instrumental in the Rose attack, as he played in Baldé, 16 yards from goal. The 19-year-old turned and got his shot away but was denied by McGinley, who got down quick and well to parry away his effort.

Seconds later, Brett again fed in McGachie, who laid the ball off to an incoming Baldé from the right, but in a déjà vu scenario, the Vale number 1, denied the youngster again with an asserted clearance.

Perseverance paid off however and it was third time lucky for João. An exceptional 40+ yard cross ball from Currie, was met first time by no one other than Brett, as his touch tee-d up Baldé. With only McGinley to beat, he wrongfooted the ‘keeper, securing his first Rose goal with his left foot as the ball ended up in the right-hand corner.

The quest for five before half-time ended with an audacious attempt from McGachie. The striker dropped deep to meet Dean Hoskins' pass, and on the turn, he looked to curl the ball into the far corner, but the effort lacked pace and the Rose headed in at half-time four goals to the good.

The home side looked as though they were going to start the scoring even faster than they did so in the first half. Just a minute in, and a Currie corner was met commandingly by Kerr Young, but the centre-half failed to keep his header down.

Moments later and Baldé looked to double his tally. He met a terrific cross from Gray with his head, but he just couldn’t quite direct it on target.

Just prior to the hour mark, Robbie Horn turned to his bench and brought on Alassan Jones and Bob Wilson for goal-scorers McGachie and Currie. This final substitution signalled that not only would he move into midfield in his long-awaited return, Alan Horne would play a full 90 minutes on his comeback to the team.

In stark contrast to the first half, the opening 20 minutes of the second were rather quiet. The well sought after fifth gaol however, looked certain to arrive just at that 75th minute mark.

Confusion amongst the Vale defence allowed Gray to charge into the box, but he got his feet tangled in the lead up to unleashing his shot, which gave McGinley time to compose himself and parry the shot away. It only got as far as Jones, but his effort was cleared off the line by a Vale defender. That clearance ended up in the path of Baldé but the Portuguese midfielder failed to get any real power or accuracy on his shot and it went out for a Rose corner.

Despite the quietness, Rose were still knocking on the door for their fifth and with just less than 15 minutes to go, they finally got their reward with an excellent team goal.

A delightful passage of play began and ended with Young. Linking up exceptionally well with Baldé and Jones from deep, before striding forward and continuing his run, the centre-half found himself on the edge of the box, pulling the trigger and firing the ball into the back of the net, in off the post.

Five goals, five different goal-scorers, comfortable was an understatement as the Rose looked to see out the clean sheet. Vale tried their luck late on and tested Mark Weir more in the final five minutes than they did the entirety of the match. Jonny Grotlin struck in the final moments as well as Vale’s most impressive player on the night, Levi, attempting an overhead kick.

It was a well-deserved and well-needed victory for Robbie Horn’s side who welcome league favourites, East Kilbride, to New Dundas Park on Saturday.

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