Robbie Horn welcomed back Dean Brett, Josh Grigor and Jonny Stewart into his starting eleven following last weekend’s heavy defeat in Annan, while a fourth and final change introduced Friday night signing Alieu Faye to the Rosey Posey faithful.

There were chances at both ends of the park in the opening 100 seconds. A dodgy bounce on the less-than-perfect surface deceived Grigor and allowed Sons forward Ally Love to let off a volley into the arms of Paddy Martin, before Neil Martyniuk fired wide from a corner less than thirty seconds later.

Conor Doan soon floated in a corner towards the back post, which was met in the air by a towering Chris Kane. The defender’s hopes of grabbing his first goal in Rose colours were dashed as his powerful header flew over the bar.

Despite a solid start from the Rose, it was the Sons who took the lead with 15 minutes played. A tidy move up the park from the home side ended with Kalvin Orsi picking out Gregg Wylde in the mixer, allowing the wide man to fire home right into the bottom corner. A lovely goal, no doubt about it.

Rose kept pushing on despite going behind and – while Sons ‘keeper Brett Long wasn’t himself tested – there were two crucial blocks from bodies in all-white to keep out Kerr Young and Kane headers in quick succession, before another two stops kept out striker Kevin Smith’s close range efforts.

Not long after the half-time interval, Faye and Smith combined well to tee up Doan from 25 yards out, but the playmaker’s right-footed effort dragged low and wide.

An error from Martyniuk on the hour mark let Orsi advance down the right flank and cut the ball back to David Wilson. The midfielder couldn’t add a goal to his impressive performance, however, as a Rose body on the goalline kept the driven finish out.

There was nearly an immediate impact from substitute Callum Connolly after he raced on the park to attack a corner. Martyniuk’s corner reached the midfielder in the mixer, but his first touch of the game whizzed over the crossbar.

With time running out for an equaliser, Rose were pushed on by a vocal travelling support but still fell just short of grabbing that elusive leveller. Connolly again threatened and others fought hard for scraps in the danger area, but the league leaders held on to take all three points.

A much-improved performance from the lads ends in, sadly, another narrow defeat at The Rock. Next weekend, Rose host Annan Athletic at New Dundas Park.

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