In Scottish football, you never know which Saturday will be the final of the year that you can get away with wearing just the one layer on top. With the Boomtown sunshine beating down once again as August nears an end, fans filed into New Dundas Park in t-shirts and shorts for Bonnyrigg Rose’s home meeting with Stirling Albion.

It was the hosts who started the hottest of the two sides, very nearly providing an instant reaction to last week’s disappointing defeat at the hands of Albion Rovers. Bob Wilson, who found himself back in the starting XI, had two fantastic opportunities in the opening minutes.

First, he met Lee Currie’s corner with a firm header that was diverted to safety by the stunning reactions of goalkeeper Blair Currie. The Albion number one’s namesake Lee recycled the ball well with a looping cross back into the box which found Wilson again in all kinds of space, but the big man’s header veered frustratingly away from goal.

Intent on maintaining their early pressure, Rose came again through Bradley Barrett on the wing-back’s first league start of the season. Drifting inside, Barrett prodded the ball in the direction of Callum Connolly, who wound up to deliver one of his signature searing strikes.

The effort may have been too straight to evade Blair Currie, but it was also too ferocious for the keeper to hold. His parry fell straight to the feet of George Hunter, whose predatory instincts failed him on this occasion, with his first-time attempt skewed over the bar.

Despite not seeing much of the action as of yet, a cohort of Stirling fans still made their voices heard behind Weir’s goal. One particular spectator had come guitar-in-hand to the first meeting between the two clubs, providing their songbook with a little more musical prestige.

Their lyrics perhaps need revisiting though, as a jab at the size of the home support quickly hits a bum note when you consider there were 1,054 in attendance to watch Midlothian’s finest. And for the vast majority of them, they’d soon have reason to sing.

Jordan McGregor was left panicked as Ross Gray suddenly nipped in between him and the goal, electing to swipe him down rather than watch the inevitable one-on-one. Up stepped Neil Martyniuk, whose emphatic strike kissed the back of the net in glorious fashion – the sweet symphony that got the Rose chorus in fine voice.

Blair Currie again was forced to keep out Hunter, the striker swarmed by Binos bodies after being set up by strike partner Kevin Smith. The keeper’s opposite number finally saw some action at the end of the half, and what blockbuster action it was.

After watching Alan Horne heroically put his body on the line to block a fierce Kai Fotheringham strike, Weir sprawled to his left to claw a similarly sizzling effort from Jack Leitch right out of the corner to ensure Rose entered the interval ahead.

Rose started the second period in the same rapid vein they did the first. Martyniuk’s drilled effort fell just wide, Connolly couldn’t direct Currie’s corner goalward, Ross Gray’s determination to keep the ball in play perhaps should have seen another spot-kick following a handball shout. Waves of red attack were crashing against Stirling’s backline, but soon, the tide would change.

Fotheringham spurned a sensational chance after the lively Dale Carrick picked out the substitute with a sublime clipped ball from the right. It was unquestionably the Binos’ best chance of the game, seemingly spurring them on to press harder for an equaliser.

The Rose resistance was strong however, with the entire team showing the kind of cohesion and concentration that was uncharacteristically missing last time out. Nothing embodied the side’s battling performance quite like the moment that would prove to be Stirling’s final opportunity of the game.

A string of set pieces led to a good, old-fashioned stramash in the box, with the ball eventually landing at the feet of Paul McLean on the edge. His shot stung the palms of Weir, who failed to collect, leading him to plead with any red body to hook it to safety.

After what felt like an age, someone in the melee obliged, and so with it, sealed the Rose’s return to winning ways with a remarkably resolute performance. It’s the long trip to Elgin next weekend as the Rosey Posey continue on their SPFL adventure.

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