2nd March 2019 Bonnyrigg Rose v East Stirling. 2-0
With Hearts Scottish Cup game against Partick Thistle now scheduled for Monday night with a 19.05 kickoff to suit television schedules I had a choice of games to go to today. I had thought about going to see Penicuik v Peebles Rovers but when I saw this match was scheduled I decided to head to Bonnyrigg. The game is a quarter-final tie in the South Challenge Cup. The competition features 69 teams from the Lowland League (16), the East of Scotland League (38), the South of Scotland League (14), as well as SFA member club Glasgow University of the Caledonian Amateur League. The reserve teams of Stirling University, Annan Athletic, and Stranraer do not take part. This tie was intriguing as it matched Bonnyrigg, who moved from the Juniors to the East of Scotland League this season against East Sirlingshire (the Shire), who are the only club, thus far, to have been relegated from the SPFL under the new pyramid system. Bonnyrigg are top of Conference B in the EoS League and require five points from five games to clinch a spot in the playoff for promotion to the Lowland League while the Shire are sixth in the Lowland League and unbeaten in 2019. Left the house at 12.50 and caught a 31 bus to Bonnyrigg, arriving at the ground at 13.55 for the 14.30 kick-off.
After reading the excellent match programme, edited by Jamie McQueen, who used to do the Whitehill Welfare programme and now does Edinburgh United issue in addition to Bonnyrigg, the game kicked off on a cold but sunny day. Aaron Murrell, ex-Spartans, Dundee United and Berwick Rangers had an early chance for Bonnyrigg. He raced on to a through ball from Johnny Stewart and his attempted chip was touched past the post by the onrushing Jamie Barclay from just inside the penalty box. Conditions began to deteriorate with a strong wind and intermittent driving rain. This proved an advantage to Bonnyrigg as the wind was blowing from behind the goal they were defending. Barclay made a number of good saves as Bonnyrigg pressed forward with a push behind of an in-swinging corner from Lee Currie being among his best. I was not impressed by Currie last time I watched Bonnyrigg but today he lived up to his reputation. His first effort, a free-kick from around thirty-five yards out, however must have been a sighting attempt. The ball flew high and wide over the byline, the netting behind the goal-line on the perimeter fence and the wall around the ground to end up among the trees of a house adjoining the ground. The Shire fans broke into a chorus of 'In the trees, in the trees, in the trees !" Another Currie corner lead to a scramble in the Shire penalty area and the ball broke to Bonnyrigg central defender Kerr Young whose net bound shot was blocked by his own centre-forward Keiran McGachie. Another through ball was again chased by Murrell and Barclay rushed to the edge of his penalty area. The keeper was unable to catch the ball and instead jumped to head it clear. His header went up in the air and was caught by the wind and blown back towards the Shire goal. Thankfully for Barclay he was able to turn and run back to catch the ball before Murrell could get forward to touch it into the goal. Just before halftime Bryan Young in the Bonnyrigg goal made his first save after a shot from Paul McCafferty from around fifteen yards out.
The second half started with Shire having the advantage of the wind. Early on Shire winger Andy Rodgers went down after a challenge in midfield. There looked to be nothing in the incident and the referee agreed and booked Rodgers for diving. Rodgers is an interesting character and is second top goal-scorer in Shire's history. I saw him play against Preston Athletic three years ago. At that game a Preston fan shouted - " You're a wee fat b****** Rodgers". The player responded by shouting back - " I might be but I have scored three more goals today than you !". Given Shire won the match 7-1 the fan did not make any response. Despite the wind being against them Bonnyrigg still made chances and Murrell broke through and drove into the penalty area with two defenders alongside him. Rather than shoot he passed to the supporting McGachie on his left. The forward took a touch and looked to shoot. He claimed he was fouled as he fell to the ground as his weak shot trickled into Barclays grasp but the referee did not see any infringement. The opening goal came after fifty-five minutes from a Murrell run down the left. He passed crossfield to right-back Dean Brett who drove into the right-hand side of the penalty box under pressure from McCafferty and Danny Ashe. Brett fell to the ground following what I thought was a tug on his shirt. The referee agreed and awarded a penalty although the Shire players were protesting loudly. After a short delay Currie stepped up to take the kick and fired the ball into the left hand corner of the net as Barclay dived to the right. Surprisingly Murrell was replaced by Ross Gray shortly after the goal. However as he has been short of match practice before signing for Bonnyrigg the management probably thought he deserved a rest. The second goal came from a Currie corner. After three attempts to place the ball, which kept blowing out of the quadrant, Currie fired a low ball towards the near post. The diving Rodgers tried to clear but only succeeded in heading the ball into his own net to give Bonnrigg a two goal advantage. After a run to the bye-line McGachie sent a low cross into the six yard box which evaded keeper Barclay. Gray rushed in, along with a covering defender, to push the ball into the net but only managed to hit the crossbar from a yard out. A fan in front of me was sure the ball would have gone in with the old style square goalposts. As the game moved into injury time Rodgers was fouled by Bonnyrigg full-back Jonathan Brown on the right touchline. It was a bad foul and Brown was rightly booked. However Rodgers was determined to get his own back on Brown and received a second yellow card and a subsequent red for his aggressive intent. As Rodgers walked across towards the dressing room he shouted something to Brown who was lining up to defend the free-kick. Bonnyrigg centre-back Young jumped in to defend his teammate and knocked Rodgers to the ground. A mass melee developed with the referee and the two assistants attempting to separate players from both sides. As a consequence Young received a straight red card and followed Rodgers to the dressing rooms. After the free-kick was cleared the ball came to Bonnyrigg's Lewis Turner about ten yards in his own half. He ran towards goal chased by a couple of defenders and fell just inside the penalty box. Again no penalty was awarded and the referee blew the final whistle seconds later.
A really enjoyable game enliven by the songs of the Shire fans and a deserved win for Bonnyrigg. I came out of the ground to see a 31 bus drawing away from the stop. However the next one arrived in six minutes. As usual alighted at South Clerk Street and walked home along the Meadows. I could get the bus to Haymarket and have a shorter walk home but with travelling down the Bridges and along Princes Street the bus takes ages and I am therefore home earlier taking the longer walk.
After reading the excellent match programme, edited by Jamie McQueen, who used to do the Whitehill Welfare programme and now does Edinburgh United issue in addition to Bonnyrigg, the game kicked off on a cold but sunny day. Aaron Murrell, ex-Spartans, Dundee United and Berwick Rangers had an early chance for Bonnyrigg. He raced on to a through ball from Johnny Stewart and his attempted chip was touched past the post by the onrushing Jamie Barclay from just inside the penalty box. Conditions began to deteriorate with a strong wind and intermittent driving rain. This proved an advantage to Bonnyrigg as the wind was blowing from behind the goal they were defending. Barclay made a number of good saves as Bonnyrigg pressed forward with a push behind of an in-swinging corner from Lee Currie being among his best. I was not impressed by Currie last time I watched Bonnyrigg but today he lived up to his reputation. His first effort, a free-kick from around thirty-five yards out, however must have been a sighting attempt. The ball flew high and wide over the byline, the netting behind the goal-line on the perimeter fence and the wall around the ground to end up among the trees of a house adjoining the ground. The Shire fans broke into a chorus of 'In the trees, in the trees, in the trees !" Another Currie corner lead to a scramble in the Shire penalty area and the ball broke to Bonnyrigg central defender Kerr Young whose net bound shot was blocked by his own centre-forward Keiran McGachie. Another through ball was again chased by Murrell and Barclay rushed to the edge of his penalty area. The keeper was unable to catch the ball and instead jumped to head it clear. His header went up in the air and was caught by the wind and blown back towards the Shire goal. Thankfully for Barclay he was able to turn and run back to catch the ball before Murrell could get forward to touch it into the goal. Just before halftime Bryan Young in the Bonnyrigg goal made his first save after a shot from Paul McCafferty from around fifteen yards out.
The second half started with Shire having the advantage of the wind. Early on Shire winger Andy Rodgers went down after a challenge in midfield. There looked to be nothing in the incident and the referee agreed and booked Rodgers for diving. Rodgers is an interesting character and is second top goal-scorer in Shire's history. I saw him play against Preston Athletic three years ago. At that game a Preston fan shouted - " You're a wee fat b****** Rodgers". The player responded by shouting back - " I might be but I have scored three more goals today than you !". Given Shire won the match 7-1 the fan did not make any response. Despite the wind being against them Bonnyrigg still made chances and Murrell broke through and drove into the penalty area with two defenders alongside him. Rather than shoot he passed to the supporting McGachie on his left. The forward took a touch and looked to shoot. He claimed he was fouled as he fell to the ground as his weak shot trickled into Barclays grasp but the referee did not see any infringement. The opening goal came after fifty-five minutes from a Murrell run down the left. He passed crossfield to right-back Dean Brett who drove into the right-hand side of the penalty box under pressure from McCafferty and Danny Ashe. Brett fell to the ground following what I thought was a tug on his shirt. The referee agreed and awarded a penalty although the Shire players were protesting loudly. After a short delay Currie stepped up to take the kick and fired the ball into the left hand corner of the net as Barclay dived to the right. Surprisingly Murrell was replaced by Ross Gray shortly after the goal. However as he has been short of match practice before signing for Bonnyrigg the management probably thought he deserved a rest. The second goal came from a Currie corner. After three attempts to place the ball, which kept blowing out of the quadrant, Currie fired a low ball towards the near post. The diving Rodgers tried to clear but only succeeded in heading the ball into his own net to give Bonnrigg a two goal advantage. After a run to the bye-line McGachie sent a low cross into the six yard box which evaded keeper Barclay. Gray rushed in, along with a covering defender, to push the ball into the net but only managed to hit the crossbar from a yard out. A fan in front of me was sure the ball would have gone in with the old style square goalposts. As the game moved into injury time Rodgers was fouled by Bonnyrigg full-back Jonathan Brown on the right touchline. It was a bad foul and Brown was rightly booked. However Rodgers was determined to get his own back on Brown and received a second yellow card and a subsequent red for his aggressive intent. As Rodgers walked across towards the dressing room he shouted something to Brown who was lining up to defend the free-kick. Bonnyrigg centre-back Young jumped in to defend his teammate and knocked Rodgers to the ground. A mass melee developed with the referee and the two assistants attempting to separate players from both sides. As a consequence Young received a straight red card and followed Rodgers to the dressing rooms. After the free-kick was cleared the ball came to Bonnyrigg's Lewis Turner about ten yards in his own half. He ran towards goal chased by a couple of defenders and fell just inside the penalty box. Again no penalty was awarded and the referee blew the final whistle seconds later.
A really enjoyable game enliven by the songs of the Shire fans and a deserved win for Bonnyrigg. I came out of the ground to see a 31 bus drawing away from the stop. However the next one arrived in six minutes. As usual alighted at South Clerk Street and walked home along the Meadows. I could get the bus to Haymarket and have a shorter walk home but with travelling down the Bridges and along Princes Street the bus takes ages and I am therefore home earlier taking the longer walk.
Teams
Bonnyrigg Rose: B. Young, Brett, Brown, K. Young, Moyes, Horne, Turner, Stewart, McGachie, Currie, Murrell.
Subs: Gray
East Stirlingshire: Barclay, Greene, Ashe, Grant, McKee, Smith, Rodgers, McGregor, Allum, McCafferty, Gray.
Subs: McCaughie, Gallagher, Brisbane.
Extract from East Stirlingshire Facebook page dated 7th March 2019
Andy Rodgers - Suspensions
The club have had confirmation that Andy Rodgers received two red cards on Saturday v Bonnyrigg Rose.
Andy was initially given 2 yellow cards resulting in his first red and he also received a straight red for his involvement in the incident as he left the park. Subsequently Andy has also been reported to the compliance officer who may take further action.
This has resulted in Andy incurring a 2 match South Challenge cup ban which will carry over until next season and he has also received a 1 match ban that will rule him out of our match in the league against Vale of Leithen in 3 weeks time.
The club and Andy will not be appealing any of the above.
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