Lowland League report from Bonnyrigg Rose v Vale of Leithen by Derek Hall 27th July 2019

Derek Hall

Bonnyrigg Rose 6-0 Vale of Leithen

A grey but thankfully dry afternoon following heavy morning rain and before kick off, SFA President Rod Petrie was on hand to present the home club with their licence signalling their historic step up for the first time to the fifth tier of Scottish football. When the action started, a fourth minute free kick picked out Young for the home side who laid the ball back to Baur but the effort on goal sailed over. After eight minutes at the other end Baur then got too tight to his opponent and conceded a free kick 30 yards from goal and the set piece was beautifully curled round the Rose wall right footed by Ireland, forcing home keeper Weir into a smart save down low at his near post. A minute later Young and McGachie combined well but the final ball in to Hunter saw a poor touch run the ball out for a goal kick. Two minutes later and some confusion in the Vale penalty area allowed Hunter to flick the ball on to McGachie but the final shot lacked the power to trouble Gilpin too much. Then Martynuik did well to work the space for himself to cross into the Vale penalty area but Thomson headed away well to concede the corner and almost immediately at the other end Patterson delivered into the Rose box where it took a good defensive header from Horne to clear the danger. After 16 minutes, Hall had a go from fully 30 yards for Vale which Rose keeper Weir watched carefully as it bounced just in front of him. Five minutes later Brett played in Young to shoot for the home side but Gilpin made the stop from about 14 yards and a minute later Patterson struck the most optimistic of free kicks towards the home goal from fully 40 yards but it drifted well wide.
The deadlock was finally broken after 24 minutes in simple fashion when a Currie corner was headed powerfully down and into the visitors net from about eight yards by Young who was unchallenged as he rose to head home. Three minutes later and the lead was doubled when McGachie superbly controlled a loose defensive clearance before slipping the ball to Gray whose driven cross was knocked in at the back post by Hunter and suddenly the home side had some breathing space. Next to have a go from distance was Stewart after being set up by Gray but he dragged his shot wide of the Vale goal. After 41 minutes, the busy Gray got to the goal line and cut the ball back for McGachie whose shot on the turn was saved by the diving Gilpin, but two minutes later McGachie blotted his copybook by getting himself cautioned for clearly tripping an opponent in an act of frustration after he felt he had been fouled first but nothing was given. Just before half time, McGachie and Hunter linked up again and Hunter moved into the Vale penalty area to lash a stinging drive just over the crossbar, but at the break it was the home side well in control and thoroughly deserving of their two goal advantage.
The first effort of the second half came after 48 minutes when the ball fell to Martynuik on the edge of the Vale penalty area but he leant back as he hit the shot and the ball was skied well over. A few minutes later, Stewart strode forward for Bonnyrigg and fired in a strong right footed 30 yarder all along the ground which Gilpin did well to get down to and turn round the post for a corner. Vale were offering little up front and two corners in quick succession, both taken by Patterson were all they could muster and both came to nothing. However on the hour, Bonnyrigg gave up cheap possession in midfield and the ball found its way to Ireland on the left edge of the Rose penalty area and he did well to make room for a curling effort which certainly had home keeper Weir worried as it slipped just wide of the far post. A minute later a good advantage from referee Bushell saw a lovely pass almost put Hunter in but keeper Gilpin was smartly off his line to snuff out the danger and less than 60 seconds later Gilpin was again in action, racing from his penalty area to get to a lovely chipped pass from Currie as Rose continued to dominate the game. However a minute later it looked to be game over as a nice move up the left flank saw Currie slide a first time pass into the path of the arriving McGachie to prod home from about eight yards and put the game out of sight for the home club.
Four minutes later, a superb solo effort from Brett saw the fourth goal arrive as he drove forward from just outside the centre circle before using the options of a player left and right to cut straight through the centre of the away defence and calmly slot the ball past the advancing Gilpin. Two minutes later Vale no 2 O’Neil was the recipient of the games second yellow card for a foul in midfield as Rose kept up pretty much relentless pressure. After 73 minutes, Gray took the ball down well with his chest on the edge of the Vale penalty but the combined efforts of keeper Gilpin and one of his defenders forced him wide and eventually cleared. Ten minutes from time Gray floated in a corner and Young rose unchallenged again but this time the header was off target. Vale managed to get an effort on target through a snapshot from Easton which Weir saved at the second attempt before at the other end, Rose trialist Docherty then curled a lovely effort just wide of the Vale far post. Two minutes later and a corner by Gray arrived at the back post and Baur’s effort came back off the woodwork before being put behind for another corner.
Six minutes from time, Docherty took a throw in with his back to goal, before turning and striding forward and unleashed another strike from around 28 yards which fizzed past the post as Gilpin looked on. Docherty was impressing and in 87 minutes he was played into the Vale penalty area where a mistimed challenge from Thomson took him down and a penalty kick was awarded from the excellently positioned referee Bushell. Thomson was yellow carded before Docherty picked himself up and sent Gilpin the wrong way with the spot kick and the lead was extended to 5-0. Rose and Docherty weren’t finished and a minute from time, Docherty played in Hunter whose cross took out the Vale keeper and Turner came in at the back post to volley home left footed into the empty net to finish off a really emphatic 6-0 victory. After competing well for the first quarter, Vale were simply overwhelmed by a totally dominant and very impressive home side, with Currie spraying passes, Hunter and McGachie looking to be forming a very potent front line partnership and a lovely late cameo from the very lively Docherty. Six different scorers will delight manager Robbie Horn and a historic day for Bonnyrigg Rose really couldn’t have been scripted any better than this.