George Hunter and Dean Hoskins were on the scoresheet as Bonnyrigg Rose battled back from losing an early goal to beat Caledonian Braves at Alliance Park.

Much like they did in their last away trip, the Rose put pressure of themselves by conceding an early goal. With four minutes on the clock, Braves forward Luke Main burst through the Bonnyrigg backline, putting himself one-one-one with Mikey Andrews in between the sticks. Not to he fazed, Main slotted the ball into the back of the net to give Ricky Waddell’s side an early lead.

It took just seven minutes for the Rose to react, however. A perfectly weighted Jonny Stewart header into the path of Scott Gray led to a driven cross into the box, which was flicked onto the crossbar by Kieran Hall, making his first competitive Rose start. At the back-post lay George Hunter, on hand to tap home and bring the game level.

The game settled into a pattern following the Rose equaliser, with the visitors dominating possession while Braves looked to threaten on the counter.

Nice interplay on the left from the trio of Hall, Neil Martyniuk and Bradley Barrett saw the latter released in behind following a swift one-two, but his cross was overhit and eluded Scott Gray at the back-post.

Rose continued working the ball from side-to-side as they tried to break down the Braves defence. Scott Gray switched the ball to Martyniuk, who worked space for the shot, before firing over the crossbar from 25 yards.

The first chance of the second half came from Hunter’s strong hold up play, fending off Jack Duncan to bring the ball down. A stabbed pass released Barrett, with the wingback firing a low cross across the face of goal, but no player in red was there to put the Rose ahead.

Hunter and Barrett combined well again on the hour mark. Back to goal, the striker backheeled the ball into the path of Barrett on the right, whose delivery this time produced a reactive save from ‘keeper Lewis Duffy.

The Braves number one was again called into action moments later. A corner from the left floated in by Lee Currie met Martyniuk, with the resulting header causing Duffy to flick the ball up in air for his defence to clear.

The Rose came closest to going ahead in the 71st minute through Ross Gray. The midfielder looked to control a cross from the right as the ball bounced in the box, pouncing on the loose ball to knock it over the head of Duffy.

Agonisingly, the Rose fans in attendance could only watch as the ball bounced off the post instead of into to back of the net.

Finally, and deservedly, the Rose persistence paid off on the 79th minute. A great corner delivery from Currie found substitute Dean Hoskins at the back-post, who leaped above his opposite number before powering the ball into the back of the net, much to the delight of the Rose faithful

It looked as though it would be two set piece goals in quick succession for the visitors as Martyniuk headed Currie’s corner back across goal, only to be denied by a strong goalline clearance from the Braves defence.

Rose began to sit deeper as the final whistle edged closer, but the final chance of the game still fell to a man in red. A long ball was brought down brilliantly by Hunter, who then rounded Duffy, but some fantastic one-on-one defending from Duncan meant that Robbie Horn’s men have settle with a 2-1 scoreline in their first away win of the season.

Results elsewhere mean the Rose are now within two points of the top of the table, with Edinburgh University their next league opponent at New Dundas Park on Saturday.

First though, Bonnyrigg head to Firhill on Tuesday evening to take on Queen’s Park in the first round of the SPFL Trust Trophy.

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