Derek Hall’s report on the Bonnyrigg Rose v Celtic B game on 17th July

Bonnyrigg Rose 2-1 Celtic B
The Lowland League 2021/22 season kicked off with some interesting fixtures, perhaps none more so than the visit of the Celtic B side to New Dundas Park to play a Bonnyrigg Rose side who had been title challengers when Covid intervened last season. With barely a minute gone, a lovely head flick from McGachie saw Hunter sprinting away but Celtic goalkeeper Oluwayemi was smartly off his line to clear just outside his box. Two minutes later a huge clearance from Rose keeper Adams had to be tipped over the crossbar on the second bounce by Oluwayemi and the keeper didn’t really look too clever on this one. A lovely 50 yard pass by Young saw Brett burst into the Celtic box but the ball got stuck under his feet and was cleared before on 10 minutes, Celtic finally registered an attack as Letsosa fed Davidson down the left flank and his dangerous low cross into the box was touched away by the diving Adams before being scrambled clear. S Gray was then released down the left flank by Hunter for the home side but once into the box, his final effort was a disappointing floated cross into the keepers arms. A minute later there were muted claims from the home side for a spot kick as S Gray claimed he had been pulled back but referee Reid was unmoved. On 17 minutes, Brett dug out a nice left foot cross which found the head of McGachie only seven yards out and the big Rose striker looked a little frustrated as the header drifted wide. However Bonnyrigg almost nosed in front on 19 minutes as a casual pass from keeper Oluwayemi then saw the visiting defence over elaborate and lose possession to Hunter who quickly fed Currie and his curling 18 yard left footer along the ground beat the keeper only to smack off the base of the right hand post and Barrett’s follow up effort was deflected behind, a big let off for the visitors. Currie swung the corner to the back post where Young powered in a header which the keeper shovelled away to safety before Barrett was then clattered by Murphy but the referee, 10 yards away, saw nothing amiss. However on 24 minutes, the home side were deservedly in front as Hunter found Currie inside the penalty arc and the ball sat up perfectly for the Rose No 10 to pick his spot and drive his left foot half volley low into the bottom corner via the fingertips of the keeper. The Celtic defence continued to look vulnerable as first Oluwayemi flapped at another Currie cross and when the ball dropped, Lawal sliced the ball behind for a corner which Young then headed into the grateful hands of keeper Oluwayemi who made the clutch under his crossbar. On the half hour, McGachie put a dangerous ball into the Celtic box and Murphy did really well to clear under pressure from Barrett who was actually penalised for a full on the young full back. Wylie of Celtic was then spoken to by the referee for an off the ball foul and could consider himself lucky that he wasn’t the first card of the game. Some casual defending at the back by Horne then nearly allowed Vata possession for the visitors just inside the Rose box but the ball was eventually cleared and when Rose forced another corner, Currie’s inswinger to the back post saw Barrett’s eight yard header go behind off the junction of post and bar. On 38 minutes, the home side missed a golden opportunity to extend their advantage as S Gray dropped a nice pass to Currie who whipped in a lovely left foot cross and Hunter arriving on the stretch at the back post saw his right foot touch slip agonisingly a foot wide of the far post with keeper Oluwayemi merely a spectator. Two minutes later, Wylie of Celtic could again consider himself fortunate as, after being dispossessed by Hunter, the Celtic no 6 went to ground and cynically reached out and grabbed hold of the Rose strikers ankle as he moved towards goal. Referee Reid decided a yellow card would suffice but there were many who felt a harsher sanction was appropriate as the ‘covering’ defender looked somewhat distant as regards affecting play. Celtic broke forward and Dobbie managed a shot from the edge of the area which Brett blocked to take the pace off it and Adams easily held on to the ball, shortly before Wilson also cleared a cross again meant for Dobbie almost on the penalty spot. Two minutes from the break, the hard working Hunter was again through and under pressure, he did well to get his 20 yard drive away and keeper Oluwayemi looked to make an excellent fingertip save low to his right at full stretch, so the award of a goal kick came once again as a bit of a head scratcher. The half time whistle brought some relief for a very hard pressed young Celtic side who had shown very little creatively, whilst for Bonnyrigg, there would be satisfaction at a dominant display, but frustration at a number of clear cut chances to kill the game off having gone begging.
Celtic started a little more brightly and a lovely pass by Letsosa inside Martynuik almost put Vata in but the ball seemed to gather pace off the surface and went behind. On 48 minutes, a cross into the Celtic penalty area resulted in an accidental collision between McGachie, Lawal and keeper Oluwayemi with the keeper coming off worst due to falling heavily and after treatment, he was forced to leave the field with substitute keeper Mullen now taking the gloves. Keeper Mullen’s first touch from the free kick saw the Celtic defence immediately lose the ball in midfield to Hunter whose shot was blocked but the ball came back to S Gray and he rolled a lovely ball out to the right flank to Brett. He drove into the box and, despite being impeded, stayed on his feet to slide the ball inside to Hunter and from around eight yards, the Bonnyrigg striker showed enough strength to ride a defensive tackle and force the ball home to double the home sides advantage after 51 minutes and give the scoreline a more realistic look. However, three minutes later, Bonnyrigg threw the young Celtic team a lifeline as the defence completely switched off at a free kick and when Letsosa clipped the ball to the back post, Lawal had time to take a touch before deftly slipping the ball past Adams from a tight angle as every single Rose defender stood rooted to the spot. Almost on the hour, Celtic could have been level and once again it was Letsosa with a lovely pass to Davidson and he showed great feet to dance past a couple of Bonnyrigg defenders before sliding the ball past the advancing Adams, but also the far post. Bonnyrigg manager Robbie Horn tried to alter things on 67 minutes as he replaced Hunter with R Gray. On 71 minutes, another back post corner from Currie picked out the head of Young but his header was off target but three minutes later the home side almost restored their two goal lead as Barrett raced down the left flank and whipped a brilliant driven cross to the edge of the six yard box where R Gray opened his body and met the ball first time, with his right foot effort being superbly parried away by keeper Mullen. With 15 minutes remaining, Celtic no 4 Lawal was cautioned for clumsy foul on S Gray just before a McGachie header was cleared to the edge of the box and as Currie tried to get to the ball he was denied possession as referee Reid completely blocked him out inside the penalty arc. Nine minutes from time, Davidson headed the ball into the net for the visitors but Lawal had been unable to keep the ball in play during the lead up. With five minutes remaining, Wylie was brought down near the touchline and, after Young had been spoken to for complaining, Rose keeper Adams was happy to turn Letsosa’s set piece behind for a corner. Davidson swung the cross over and Adams was again in action, this time diving to hold Lawal’s eight yard header. An S Gray effort from a tight angle ended up on the roof of the Celtic net before Bonnyrigg introduced more fresh legs with four minutes to go as Connolly replaced McGachie. Vata then showed real pace to get to the Rose goal line but S Gray matched him all the way to turn the ball behind and Lawal’s header from the set piece was well off target. As time ran down, R Gray was cautioned for delaying Otoo taking a free kick for the visitors in midfield but as the final whistle went, nobody could grudge the victory to a home side who had completely dominated the game for an hour, despite a spirited last half hour from young full time Celtic players who unsurprisingly seemed to have a little more energy in the tank in the latter stages as the game was concluded in the searing heat of tropical New Dundas Park.