Bonnyrigg Rose boss wants fans to be 12th man against Cowdenbeath with capacity crowd expected

Bonnyrigg Rose supporters at sold-out New Dundas Park will have an enormous part to play once again in part one of the cinch League Two play-off final, according to manager Robbie Horn.

He praised the fans for their superb backing on Saturday up at Fraserburgh – and appealed to them to deliver the same again at New Dundas Park this weekend against Cowdenbeath.

Tickets for Rose supporters sold out this week but more are being made available after Cowdenbeath returned some of their allocation. A capacity crowd of around 1,500 is epected.

Bonnyrigg made it through to face the Fifers in the two-legged final despite losing 1-0 at Bellslea on Saturday, having held a 3-1 lead from the first leg.

Cowdenbeath lost to Albion Rovers that day but it was their first defeat in six games, so Horn knows the Blue Brazil have rediscovered some form at an important time. But a positive approach and the right mindset would be uppermost in Bonnyrigg’s thoughts.

“The crowd also have a massive part to play for us on Saturday,” he said. “They had a massive part to play up in Fraserburgh – in the last 20 minutes of the game, they got right behind the players and the support they gave was very important to us.”

Ticket sales had indicated there would be a big turnout on Saturday and Horn hoped the fans could help make it as difficult as possible for Maurice Ross’ side.

Horn was understandably pleased with the outcome against the Broch but also a little relieved. He felt it was a tribute to Rose’s defensive qualities that they held on – adding Rose had not encountered pressure quite like that all season.

A section of the Bonnyrigg Rose support at Fraserburgh on Saturday. Boss Robbie Horn says they'll be vital to the play-off final cause. Picture: Joe Gilhooley LRPS

“I thought we should have been further ahead going into the game on Saturday,” he said. "We had opportunities as well – it wasn’t as if we didn’t – but we never took them and, once they got their goal, they had their tails up and we were under pressure, under the cosh. But we saw it through. We defended for our lives and Mark (Weir) made an important save. We defended really well from the front. Guys worked hard, midfielders closed people down and we defended our box really well.”

He added: “We have not faced anything like that this season. It’s relentless, the pressure they try and put you under. You can see how they win lots of games of football up there – they come down the slope, they get the wind behind them, the crowd get behind them and it's difficult.

"Apart from maybe a while against Alloa in the Scottish Cup, I can’t think of another point in the season when we’ve been under pressure like that but the players really stood up to it and deserve huge credit.”