18th October 2019 Bonnyrigg Rose v Buckie Thistle 2-0
A big night for Bonnyrigg with a Scottish Cup tie picking the leaders of the Lowland League against the leaders of the Highland League, Buckie Thistle. The match has also been chosen by BBC for live television coverage and will therefore be a test for Bonnyrigg's new installed floodlights. A large crowd is expected for the match and the game has been made all-ticket, possibly another first for a Bonnyrigg home match. It had been pouring with rain most of the afternoon and I left home at 17.00 to catch the 17.10 X31 bus at Haymarket. When I arrived at the stop the board showed the bus was due in four minutes but it never turned up. However the next X31 arrived at 17.20 and I caught that. The X31 misses out a number of stops on the route out to Bonnyrigg and I arrived at Bonnyrigg Toll at 18.05. From there it is a short walk to the ground and I showed my ticket for entry and bought a £2 programme. As I had nothing to eat since lunch time I bought a coffee and a pie. I ate my pie underneath the covered area of the ground and then walked round to the grassy side where I met Jim. We decided to move a bit lower down before kickoff and as we moved I saw George, another person I had worked with. He is a Berwick Rangers fan but like me likes to watch football. We had a quick chat before I moved to stand with Jim and we were later joined by Keith, a Raith Rovers fan.
Bonnyrigg had rested a number of players for their South of Scotland Challenge Cup tie against Threave Rovers last week but today fielded what was probably their strongest available side. Hearts loanee Daniel Baur did not play as I think the agreement with Hearts would not allow him to take part in Scottish Cup matches and centre forward Keiran McGachie, who had been out injured recently, was only fit enough for a place on the bench. I knew very little about Buckie Thistle other than they are currently top of the Highland League and that they play in green and white hooped jerseys. A glance at the programme showed that the squad were generally experienced Highland League players and there were no familiar names to me although some had experience with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Ross County and Aberdeen.
The game started with Bonnyrigg on top and the running of George Hunter and Ross Gray was causing issues for the Buckie defence. Centre-half Ewan Moyes had the first chance for Bonnyrigg when a corner was partially cleared by the Buckie defence to full-back Dean Brett. His cross was headed over the crossbar by Moyes from about fifteen yards out. Brett then showed his defensive quality when he touched a cross behind for a corner before Buckie’s Sam Urquhart could get a touch. The game was now being played mostly in midfield although Lewis Turner had a shot in twenty minutes saved by Lee Herbert in the Buckie goal. This was Turner’s last contribution to the match as following a strong tackle and subsequent treatment he limped off the park to be replaced by Scott Gray. The substitution was a disappointment to the fans behind the goal who had a large Bonnyrigg flag attached to the net preventing the ball flying into the house gardens adjacent to the ground. The flag had Turner’s name on it in large letters.
Buckie had a chance early in the second half when Sam Robertson shot across goal but no-one slid in to convert at the far post. Mark Weir in the Bonnyrigg goal then made a good save in fifty minutes when he pushed away a shot from Scott Adams for the defence to clear. Bonnyrigg went ahead in fifty-two minutes when the ball found it’s way to Johnathan Stewart wide on the right hand touchline about twenty-five yards out. His cross was high and deep and passed over the head of the Buckie keeper Herbert into the net. There was a post on Twitter after the game from Stewart claiming it was a shot but if he meant to score he should have been playing at a far higher level. Buckie had a chance to equalise when Sam Urquhart had a free header from eight yards but the attempt was straight at Weir who had an easy save. Ross Gray headed past the far post from twelve yards from a Brett cross before Bonnyrigg went two up in sixty-seven minutes. Hunter chased a long through ball and caught it near the bye-line on the right. He checked inside Lewis McKinnon and then round the challenge of Scott Adams before firing the ball across Herbert and into the net from the edge of the six yard box. Buckie pressed forward in an attempt to get back into the tie but were unable to create any problems for Weir in the Bonnyrigg goal. Indeed the best chance fell to Bonnyrigg after substitute Jamie Devlin was tripped just outside the penalty box and twenty yards from goal. Brett took the free-kick but blasted the ball over the bar. The final whistle went shortly thereafter and Bonnyrigg became the first side through to the third round of the Scottish Cup with the remaining second round ties being played on Saturday and Sunday.
After the match Jim offered me a lift back into town and dropped me off in Lothian Road. I then walked the short distance home and was there by 9.45.
Teams
Bonnyrigg Rose: Weir, Brett, Brown, Horne, Moyes, Martynuik, Turner, Stewart, Hunter, Currie, R.Gray.
Subs: S.Gray, Devlin, Young.
Buckie Thistle: Herbert, Munro, Adams,McKinnon, J.Murray, Cowie, McAskill, C. Murray, Fraser, Urquhart, Robertson.
Subs: Adams, Cheyne, McCabe.
Bonnyrigg had rested a number of players for their South of Scotland Challenge Cup tie against Threave Rovers last week but today fielded what was probably their strongest available side. Hearts loanee Daniel Baur did not play as I think the agreement with Hearts would not allow him to take part in Scottish Cup matches and centre forward Keiran McGachie, who had been out injured recently, was only fit enough for a place on the bench. I knew very little about Buckie Thistle other than they are currently top of the Highland League and that they play in green and white hooped jerseys. A glance at the programme showed that the squad were generally experienced Highland League players and there were no familiar names to me although some had experience with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Ross County and Aberdeen.
The game started with Bonnyrigg on top and the running of George Hunter and Ross Gray was causing issues for the Buckie defence. Centre-half Ewan Moyes had the first chance for Bonnyrigg when a corner was partially cleared by the Buckie defence to full-back Dean Brett. His cross was headed over the crossbar by Moyes from about fifteen yards out. Brett then showed his defensive quality when he touched a cross behind for a corner before Buckie’s Sam Urquhart could get a touch. The game was now being played mostly in midfield although Lewis Turner had a shot in twenty minutes saved by Lee Herbert in the Buckie goal. This was Turner’s last contribution to the match as following a strong tackle and subsequent treatment he limped off the park to be replaced by Scott Gray. The substitution was a disappointment to the fans behind the goal who had a large Bonnyrigg flag attached to the net preventing the ball flying into the house gardens adjacent to the ground. The flag had Turner’s name on it in large letters.
Buckie had a chance early in the second half when Sam Robertson shot across goal but no-one slid in to convert at the far post. Mark Weir in the Bonnyrigg goal then made a good save in fifty minutes when he pushed away a shot from Scott Adams for the defence to clear. Bonnyrigg went ahead in fifty-two minutes when the ball found it’s way to Johnathan Stewart wide on the right hand touchline about twenty-five yards out. His cross was high and deep and passed over the head of the Buckie keeper Herbert into the net. There was a post on Twitter after the game from Stewart claiming it was a shot but if he meant to score he should have been playing at a far higher level. Buckie had a chance to equalise when Sam Urquhart had a free header from eight yards but the attempt was straight at Weir who had an easy save. Ross Gray headed past the far post from twelve yards from a Brett cross before Bonnyrigg went two up in sixty-seven minutes. Hunter chased a long through ball and caught it near the bye-line on the right. He checked inside Lewis McKinnon and then round the challenge of Scott Adams before firing the ball across Herbert and into the net from the edge of the six yard box. Buckie pressed forward in an attempt to get back into the tie but were unable to create any problems for Weir in the Bonnyrigg goal. Indeed the best chance fell to Bonnyrigg after substitute Jamie Devlin was tripped just outside the penalty box and twenty yards from goal. Brett took the free-kick but blasted the ball over the bar. The final whistle went shortly thereafter and Bonnyrigg became the first side through to the third round of the Scottish Cup with the remaining second round ties being played on Saturday and Sunday.
After the match Jim offered me a lift back into town and dropped me off in Lothian Road. I then walked the short distance home and was there by 9.45.
Teams
Bonnyrigg Rose: Weir, Brett, Brown, Horne, Moyes, Martynuik, Turner, Stewart, Hunter, Currie, R.Gray.
Subs: S.Gray, Devlin, Young.
Buckie Thistle: Herbert, Munro, Adams,McKinnon, J.Murray, Cowie, McAskill, C. Murray, Fraser, Urquhart, Robertson.
Subs: Adams, Cheyne, McCabe.
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