One piece of silverware is already familiarising itself with New Dundas Park surroundings, but another is still up for grabs.

The Lowland League trophy – arguably the most important cup – is proudly donning the red and white ribbons of Bonnyrigg Rose, after captain Jonny Stewart finally got his hands on it, on Saturday.

The title-winning party followed a tough encounter with East Stirlingshire in Midlothian, with Robbie Horn’s side coming from behind twice, to gain a point and ensure no dampener on the celebrations.

Kieran Offord opened the scoring for The Shire, five minutes before half-time. His bobbly effort bouncing right in front of Mark Weir to sneak its way into the net. Not long after the interval, Sean Brown got his body into a terrific position to force a foul out of Connor Greene inside the box. Neil Martyniuk struck the Rose back on level terms, with his 25th goal for the club. Jamie Hamilton’s beautiful strike had the visitors ahead again, but with minutes to go, Callum Connolly ensured the points would be shared with a fierce shot.

Only one Lowland League match is left for Rose. A trip to East Kilbride on Saturday awaits, before play-off action against the Highland league champions commences.

But before all that, attention turns to The Spartans in tonight’s South Challenge Cup semi-final at Ainslie Park. Horn’s side advanced to this stage courtesy of a commanding 3-0 victory over Bo’ness United in the previous round. George Hunter netted his second goal in consecutive South Challenge Cup rounds to get the ball rolling in the first half. Within 11 minutes of the second, the tie was over, thanks to goals from Scott Gray and Neil Martyniuk.

Tonight’s opponents reached the semi-final in a much less convincing manner, but courtesy of quite the thriller against Jeanfield Swifts. An extra-time seven goal doozy in Perth was 1-1 at the break, with the lower-league hosts taking the lead through Chris McLeish before Lowland League top goal scorer, Blair Henderson, equalised. With 20 minutes to go, Swifts were 3-1 up as a consequence of a second from McLeish and Gary Fergus. However, Henderson also grabbed his second penalty of the match before Jamie Dishington’s 85th minute header forced extra-time. In the first period of extra-time, The Spartans took the lead for the first time via Bradley Whyte and the Ainslie Park natives held out to set up this clash with the Champions.

Dougie Samuel’s side also picked up a point at the weekend, they played out a stalemate with Berwick Rangers.

Tickets for the clash in the capital are priced at £8 for adults and £5 for concessions, with U16s going free. Pay at the gate will be in operation, but you can secure your tickets via Fanbase, too: https://tinyurl.com/yxyvbd5a.

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