A Neil McLaughlin hattrick condemned Bonnyrigg Rose to defeat away at Clydebank, losing 5-1 at Holm Park.

Jonny Stewart made one change from last week’s encounter against Gala Fairydean Rovers with Josh Laing replacing the injured Neil Martyniuk.

It took just nine minutes for the scoring to be opened by Cammie Ross.

The Bonnyrigg Rose striker dashed onto a neat flick from Kal Higginbotham and did the rest himself, brilliantly gliding away from several Clydebank defenders before coolly slotting past Owen Stott for a dream start.

Clydebank swiftly found their tempo and equalised shortly after the twenty minute mark.

Keir Samson found space in the penalty area and cut back for Neil McLaughlin, whose poked effort found the back of the net for 1-1.

Four minutes later, McLaughlin grabbed his second goal from a corner, reacting quickest to head into an empty net after an initial header from David Syme bounced back off the bar and into the forward’s path.

It took just two minutes after that for McLaughlin to seal a hat-trick. After a moment of chaos in the penalty area, the striker reacted quickest to cushion an effort beyond Ross Connelly and into the bottom corner.

Things went from bad to worse just nine minutes before the interval when Keir Samson raced onto a deep ball from Nicky Low and swept home Clydebank’s fourth goal of the half.

Clydebank picked up where they left off twelve minutes into the second half and scored their fifth through Dominic Docherty. After yet more chaos in the penalty box, the midfielder eventually stabbed home his first Bankies goal.

With the game beyond saving, Jonny Stewart promptly made a number of changes - Corrie Fellows and Gregor Nicol entered the fray alongside a return to action for Laurie Devine.

Despite having been out of action since the reverse fixture back in October, the Rose wide man sparked plenty of much-needed energy back into his side.

Devine looked to have reduced the deficit in the closing stages after he brought down a long ball from Cammie Ross before firing past Stott, but was denied by an offside flag.

Despite Clydebank’s victory Bonnyrigg Rose remain top of the Lowland League and will be looking to bounce back next week when they host Hearts B at New Dundas Park.