It was a change of surroundings for Bonnyrigg Rose as they travelled to Beechwood Park to take on Sauchie Juniors in the Scottish Cup Second Round. There was five changes from last weekend as Keiran McGachie, Kevin Smith, Neil Martyniuk, Bob Wilson and Bradley Barrett come into the side, Martyniuk returning from a knock he suffered against Albion Rovers weeks ago.

The game kicked off at 3pm but was delayed due a a smoke bomb going off in the Sauchie end, but the momentary delay didn’t stop Rose from going close early on, Scott Gray with a nice shimmy in the box and his cutback to Smith hit the top of the crossbar from close range. Rose continued to test the opposition goal, with Barrett having a few efforts from long range wide and saved respectively. Sauchie were growing into the half though, roared on by the home crowd and Ross Kavanagh raced through on goal but was denied by a strong hand from Mark Weir. It wouldn’t be long until Sauchie took the lead however, as a cross following a corner was met by Scott Davidson who headed Sauchie in front on the 20 minute mark. Things only got worse for Rose shortly after, as Lee Currie was forced off through injury, replaced by Conor Doan with Rose’s injury woes continuing to ravage the squad. Doan got involved almost immediately, with his long range effort going high and wide. Sauchie would go on to have the ball in the net for a second time, but it was disallowed as the linesman judged the ball to have been knocked out of Weir’s hand,. They would push on for a second however, with Sauchie hitting the post before eventually getting a second on 37 minutes, Sam Collumbine’s header looping over the man on the line and into the back of the net.

Rose knew they needed a response before half time if they wanted any chance of getting back into things, and McGachie did just that after he poked home following a fantastic bit of skill to take it past the defender. Rose’s goal would go on to be cancelled just 2 minutes later though, as Sauchie turned the ball over in the middle of the park and Kavanagh slipped in Ross Hutchinson who bundled in Sauchie 3rd and ensured they took a 3-1 lead into the break.

The second half was a lot less action packed than the first, as McGachie and Wilson went into the book early on. Kieran Hall replaced Kevin Smith on the hour mark as Rose went in search of a way back into the game. It was Sauchie who would go close soon after the changes, with Kavanagh, who was a thorn in Rose’s side the entire game, went through on goal again but was denied by Weir. Conor Doan went close for Rose shortly after as he fired his effort into the side netting. Zach Khan replaced Bob Wilson on 79 minutes, a tactical change which saw Rose go all out to try and get back into it. The substitute made a difference, sneaking in behind the Sauchie defence and dinking the ball over Charles Clark with Rose having just 5 minutes of injury time to get an equaliser.

The equaliser would not follow however, and Bonnyrigg Rose are out of the Scottish Cup in the Second Round denied by a spirited Sauchie Juniors.