There were three changes from last weekend’s Lowland League clash versus Rangers B as Kieran Hall and Kerr Young stepped in for Lee Currie and Bob Wilson, while Scott Gray replaced his brother Ross in the starting XI.

Despite having some stiff legs in the squad from the four-hour coach journey to Mosset Park, Robbie Horn’s men were dominant from the first whistle.

Neil Martyniuk was repeatedly testing the Forres backline with passes from deep and caught out centre-back Graham Fraser with one of his first. Hall latched onto the ball and, with help from Callum Connolly, found Dean Brett advancing forward on the right flank. The full-back sprinted onto the ball but his driven strike across goal was well parried by Forres ‘keeper Stuart Knight and cleared.

Keiran McGachie was a constant threat in the opposition box and didn’t have to wait too long to open the scoring. In the 33rd minute, a half-dozen knock-on headers from the halfway line reached Hall inside the opposition box, allowing the forward to chip in a delightful cross into his strike partners’ path. McGachie reacted swiftly to clip the ball over Knight and into the top corner to put Rose ahead.

The Can Cans came out fighting in the second half and initially startled a settled Rose backline. Lee Fraser released a fierce laced strike from the edge of the box which forced a strong stop from Mikey Andrews. Not long after, Thomas Brady won possession in their final third and cut the ball back to Paul Brindle, though thankfully Andrews wasn’t called into action this time round as the midfielder’s shot dragged wide.

Scott Gray came closest to doubling the Rose’s lead after an intended pass toward the wing was deflected back into his own path after it smacked off his own teammate, teeing him up perfectly for a first time volley which cruelly cannoned off the crossbar and back into touch.

George Hunter entered as a substitute with just over 15 minutes to play and, eventually, made his mark on the game after having efforts cleared off the goalline on two separate occasions.

The first callous clearance came when Ruari Fraser, after the fresh legs of Hunter raced beyond a tired Mechanics backline and directed a shot beyond Knight, heroically chased down the shot and cleared the ball off the line.

The second stop came from Graham Fraser. Hunter had rounded Knight and took aim from distance but the strike didn’t have enough power behind it; allowing Fraser to calmly keep the ball from rolling into the empty goal.

Despite these setbacks, Hunter, like McGachie, finally got his goal. Stewart hooked a well-weighted pass over the top for Hunter to pick the ball up and curl it into the bottom corner beyond an outstretched Knight.

The late, late goal to seal the tie sparked jubilant celebrations from the fantastic travelling Rose support and sent Bonnyrigg into the second round of the Scottish Cup.

The draw for the next round will take place on Sunday 19th September at 11:30am on all available Scottish Cup social media channels.

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