Advantage Rose in Play-Off Final

You could have stood bang in the middle of the Crossroads, look in every conceivable direction, and know exactly what was going on today. There was only one show in town. Bonnyrigg was ready for the arrival of Cowdenbeath, in the first leg of the SPFL League Two Play-Off Final.

Sold-out for days, those lucky enough to possess their golden ticket made their way into New Dundas Park as early as possible. Banners were to be put up. Shed positions were to be claimed. Players were to be welcomed. It all comes down to the next seven days.

And those in Bonnyrigg red certainly knew it. Flying out the traps, chances fell to the heads of both Sean Brown and Callum Connolly. The former, unable to get the connection he desired. The latter, adjudged to have made too much of a connection with the Cowdenbeath defender. Backed by the Rose roar, the players were up for the occasion.

Brown, in for the suspended Keiran McGachie, was keen to show he could lead the Lowland League champions’ line. After letting a long ball bounce, the striker beautifully juggled the ball over the last man’s head. Getting himself into a great scoring position, his eagerness was his downfall, as he failed to find the target.

The visitors soon had their first chance of the game, thanks to the searing pace of Sammy Ompreon. The former Falkirk man looked composed as he bore down on Mark Weir’s goal, only to drag his shot across the face, producing a sigh of relief for the vast majority in the ground.

Intensity was certainly in abundance in the early stages. For Harvey Swann, ironically ungracefully, that intensity boiled over. After already being cautioned for a late lunge on Lee Currie, the Cowden defender left the ground again in a challenge against Dean Brett. With little option, the referee delivered his marching orders, and the already noisy NDP cranked the volume up that wee bit higher.

A wee bit higher, until Brown went and spun the dial right to the max. Patience was a virtue as Neil Martyniuk collected an overhit cross on the left, only to coolly knock it into the path of Bradley Barrett. The subsequent cross lit up the eyes of the Rose number 23 and Brown threw all of himself at it to bundle the ball over the line.

The message was now clear: keep the pressure up. Bonnyrigg’s midfield machine needs no reminder of this, Callum Connolly just doesn’t stop. His relentlessness paid dividends when he charged into the box and got himself involved in a tussle that saw the referee point to the spot.

Boasting a perfect penalty record in a high pressure campaign, there was little doubt who’d be stepping up. Martyniuk may be a centre half, but there’s no denying his lethality in dispatching spot-kicks. Cameron Gill guessed the right way – though pinpoint accuracy cannot be denied, and nor could the Rose’s two goal advantage heading into the break.

A man down and two goals behind, the Blue Brazil understandably sought to take the sting out of the second period. They were doing so successfully for the majority of the half, until a familiar face popped up with a stinger of his own.

Who else? Boundlessly energetic throughout the game, and with plenty incentive to deliver on the day, it seemed absurd that Brett would be left unmarked from an ever-dangerous Currie corner. Against his old side, against the visiting fans’ hostility, he nodded home at the back-post with ease, before wheeling away euphorically amid the Boomtown bedlam.

On an action-packed day in Midlothian, both keepers were still to add their name to the conversation. Only the outstretched leg of Gill could deny a rampant Barrett from making it four, before Weir had to sort his feet quickly to get a big hand on the end of a Barrowman effort.

The final big chance of the game looked to leave the goalie helpless when Barrett expertly teed up substitute Kieran Hall. Agonising over whether to take the falling ball first time on his head and try and take it under his spell, Hall’s eventual header fired straight into the ground and over the bar. Still though, there wasn’t much that could dampen the smile on those Rosey Posey faces.

It's only half-time in the tie, but for now, the Rose keep on rolling, and we all keep on dreaming.

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