The anticipated return of defender Johnny Brown, who last sported the iconic Bonnyrigg Rose red and white hoops 452 days ago, was a key highlight of the dull-skied clash between two of the Lowland League's top sides.

From the first whistle, it was Brown who instigated each Rose attack from deep on the right wing. Showing no signs of rust, he hustled for every single ball and charged forward with intent. It didn’t take long for this energy to spread throughout the squad and by the 7th minute, the Rose were ahead.

Keiran McGachie collected the ball in the final third and bulldozed his way through every adversary in his path - flinging one particular defender to the ground in a fairly emasculating manner - before unleashing a fierce strike on goal from a tight angle. Spartans’ shot-stopper Blair Carswell only managed to parry the ball back into Keys’ path, which allowed the big man to lash a hopeful ball into the mixer that was expertly whacked into the top corner by an opposing defender.

Within sixty seconds of the opener, the Rose were denied a quickfire double salvo by literal inches. Ross Gray was picked out in the danger area by a fine McGachie cut back but his outstretched effort was kept out by a determined defender on the goalline. Some thought the ball had crossed over, some thought it hadn’t. The officials unfortunately agreed with the latter group.

It was the visitors who threatened next as they began to find their feet on the bogged down surface. An ambitious Jamie Dishington strike from distance was deflected perfectly into the path of Scott Maxwell, who spun round and played Dishington back in after he cleverly kept his run going. The midfielder skipped past the last man but his low effort dragged wide of Mikey Andrews’ goal.

There certainly wasn’t a lack of entertainment in the opening stages as dangerous attacks just kept on coming. Soon, however, a game of good quality was hindered by an NDP pitch struggling to hold up in the rain, while both sides were also becoming increasingly tense as tempers began to flare - with a hard challenge from behind by Michael Herd on Ross Gray riling up players and staff on each side in particular.

The home team’s mood instantly switched from frustrated to overjoyed, however, as another own goal doubled the Rose’s lead from the resulting free-kick. Some fancy football put Rose in on goal and it was Bradley Barrett who grabbed the ‘assist’ this time round; with his whacked cross helplessly turned into the net by a second Spartans defender.

The remainder of the first half saw few chances for the Rose and more offensive quality from the trailing visitors. Sam Jones wasted the best such chance when an atypically disorganised Rose backline failed to clear their lines. The midfielder picked up the ball on the edge of the D, nimbly jinked past his closest challenger, but wildly skied his shot when it truly seemed easier to score than miss with the goal gaping.

Despite Spartans creating more chances towards the end of the first 45, the Rose kept a hold of their two-goal lead until the break. The half hour that followed the interval was plagued with contentious calls, heavy fouls, and quarrels breaking out across the soaked pitch. Robbie Horn’s men did have a few half-chances to extend their lead to three, but it wasn’t to be.

With 15 minutes remaining, Spartans clawed themselves back into the tie. A deep free-kick was inch-perfectly whipped to the back post, allowing centre-back Ryan Finnie to peel off his marker and direct a desperate sliding shot goalward. A sprawled Andrews managed to get a touch to the shot but couldn’t keep it out.

Seeking an immediate response, the Rose came close on three separate occasions in very quick succession. Fresh substitute Nathan Evans had pace to burn and burn it he did. The centre-forward raced onto a long optimistic pass upfield, carried the ball into the box and, with no teammates up the park with him, was forced to have a pop at goal from an awkward wide position. A heavy deflection devastatingly smacked off the crossbar rather than loop into the goal.

More excruciating missed chances were to come as a strong Kerr Young header from the ensuing corner was caught by Carswell, before McGachie later got on the end of a Lee Currie free-kick, though his strained tapped finish around Carswell was boldly punted clear over his own goal by Euan Smith.

The Rose managed to hold off Spartans at Ainslie Park earlier on in the season from a similar position: a two-goal lead brought back to just one. However, this time round there was more time for the opponents to break down the resilient Rose backline. And as Spartans continued to improve and chances continued to elude Rose, it only seemed like a matter of time before the visitors snatched a late equaliser.

It was Sean Brown, off the bench not long before, that grabbed that late equaliser. Under intense pressure, a headed clearance failed to escape the Rose box and instead fell from the sky to the feet of Brown. The East Fife loanee caught the dropping ball on the volley and Andrews, not helped by the conditions, was unable to keep the ball out.

The late sucker punch strike was no doubt deflating but a draw still keeps Bonnyrigg Rose eleven points clear of today’s tough opponents with a game in hand.

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