Match Preview

After the jubilation of sealing promotion, Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic will run out for the last time in their title-winning season - once again in pursuit of silverware - as they take on Auchinleck Talbot in the final of the South Challenge Cup at the Falkirk Stadium.

Amid all the glory that the league campaign has brought around, Rose have quietly gone about their business en route to a regional cup final.

Arniston Rangers, Coldstream, Arthurlie, Dundonald Bluebell and Spartans have all fallen on the Rose sword on their march to Falkirk, scoring 22 goals in those five games, including a 9-1 win in a Midlothian Derby in the opening fixture.

As is ordinary for Robbie Horn’s side, the goals have been shared around, with nine different scorers making up the total tally. Three players lead the way on four goals netted, however -strike duo Nathan Evans and Kieran Hall, alongside wingman Bradley Barrett.

It is the Rose’s first chance to seize cup silverware since the 2018 Fife and Lothians Cup was claimed in a 5-1 dismantling of local rivals Newtongrange Star in our final game as a junior club. Keith Lough, Euan Moyes, Keiran McGachie, Kyle Wilson and former Star man Neil Martyniuk were all on the scoresheet to give Bonnyrigg the bragging rights at Penicuik Park.

For Talbot, silverware is second nature. Their stance as 13-time winners of the Scottish Junior Cup makes them the competition’s comfortable conqueurers, with the next best clubs sitting on just six titles. They’ll have a view to widening that gap in a couple of weeks too, when they take on Yoker Athletic in search of a familiar prize.

While not ultimately title-winning, it has been a strong debut season for The Bot in the pyramid set-up. A second-placed finish, four points off eventual West of Scotland Fototball League Champions Darvel, is more than respectable in a league full of ambitious clubs with their sights set upwards.

Sunday’s clash will mark the first time the sides have met since February 2015, where they could only be separated deep into a replay at New Dundas Park in the Junior Cup. Steven Hislop netted both the Rose goals across the two fixtures, but it’d be the Ayrshire club that progressed to the next round.

Kick-off between Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic and Auchinleck Talbot in the South Challenge Cup Final is 3pm on Sunday at the Falkirk Stadium. A cash only gate will be in operation, with no pre-sold tickets available. The Bonnyrigg faithful have been allocated the north west area of the stand.

For the final time this season – ‘Mon the Rose!