With one eye on next weekend’s Scottish Cup clash against Alloa Athletic, Robbie Horn made five changes to the side who comfortably defeated Gala Fairydean Rovers last weekend.

Nathan Evans, one of the five players to come into the starting eleven, came closest to opening the scoring in the opening ten minutes. The forward - following some neat interplay between Callum Connolly and Ross Gray - was teed up on the edge of the opposition box but his driven strike swerved outward, just wide of the post.

No matter, however, as it took just 18 minutes of play for the forward to get his goal. A well-whipped Neil Martyniuk corner met the head of Evans, who managed - despite having little time to react - to direct the ball into the net with a neat glancing header.

The holy grail of a two-goal cushion was secured several minutes later as big Bob Wilson netted a sweet, sweet strike. Straight from a typically inviting Lee Currie corner, a blocked Kerr Young header fell behind Wilson in the mixer, allowing the centre-half to expertly spin round and fire a cracking half-volley right into the top corner.

Rose kept the goals coming for the 331 chilly spectators at NDP, as Evans notched his second. A switch ball in the final third was picked up by Martyniuk on the left flank, letting the defender dangerously fire the ball into the path of a goal-hungry Evans for a simple tap-in.

Moments later, Martyniuk once again picked out Evans in the middle, though the forward was denied his hat-trick from a dubious offside decision. A sublime Currie through ball also sadly went to waste. A truly terrible shame.

The lads headed into the second 45 three goals to the good and with one foot in the next round. Mark Weir was kept on his toes and tested for the first time by an startling long range strike but the Rose had extended their lead to four by the hour mark.

George Hunter grabbed the final goal of the game with a stunning effort from just outside the box. The forward carried the ball forward, set himself up with some nimble footwork, before unleashing a wondrous strike that gave Coldstream ‘keeper William Stewart no chance at his near post.

The Rose certainly did seek out a fifth goal despite the secure lead already accumulated.

Youngster Sean Hancock, off the back of grabbing a brace for the young team last night, was lively off the bench and nearly nabbed an assist for himself when he perfectly played Evans through on goal. The hat-trick hunter couldn’t get enough behind his shot, however, and could only watch his effort being heroically cleared before it could trickle over the line.

Hunter was then twice denied a brace by the Coldstream number one. First, Stewart parried away an audacious, dipping long-range strike by the forward after he floated in from the left-hand side.

Then, just three minutes later, Hunter laboured to make space for himself in a crowded penalty area and let off a rising strike that seemed destined to fly into the top corner. Unfortunately for Geo, Stewart had other plans and reacted quickly to keep the ball out with a strong save.

A deserved clean sheet was secured when a thumping free-kick from Buster Briggs in the late stages was bravely blocked by Ross Gray, in what was the only notable piece of action from a tame final 15 minutes.

The four-goal haul has secured a fourth round spot in the South Challenge Cup. Alloa Athletic are up next at Recreation Park, with another fourth round spot up for grabs in the Scottish. 'Mon the Rose!

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