Bonnyrigg Rose 'don't fear Rangers' after stretching Lowland League lead

Bonnyrigg Rose have opened up a four-point gap at the top of the Lowland League after a convincing 3-0 win over Berwick Rangers.

Ross Gray of Bonnyrigg Rose and Brody Patterson in action during the Lowland League match against Celtic B (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

With second-placed Rangers B idle at the weekend, it was an ideal opportunity for Rose to extend their lead over the Ibrox youngsters ahead of the top two’s big clash on Saturday. However, the Glasgow side have played two games fewer.

In front of a crowd of 714 at New Dundas Park, Robbie Horn’s men found themselves in front just after the half-hour mark, full-back Dean Brett’s cross turned home by Ross Gray.

Rose doubled their advantage in the 58th minute when Callum Connolly found the back of the net following good play from Keiran McGachie on the right wing.

The Midlothian side made sure of the points adding a third with less than 20 minutes remaining, Kerr Young’s unstoppable volley rounding off a fine afternoon’s work.

Boss Horn said afterwards: “It’s a massive win. I didn’t think we were quite at it in the first half but we found ourselves in front. The second half was a really good performance, we took control of the game and we thoroughly deserved to win.

“We’re only worried about ourselves. If we keep winning games, then we don’t have to worry about anyone else. It’s up to us what we do. We’ve still to hit top form. It’s going to be a tough game against Rangers. They’re a full-time team so it will be similar to Celtic. They’ll probably have a lot of the ball so we’ll have to defend properly and match runners but, at the same time, we’ve got to approach it in the same way as we did against Celtic.

“We don’t fear them and it’s another chance to get three points at home.”

Elsewhere, Spartans earned the bragging rights in the north Edinburgh derby as they edged past Civil Service Strollers 2-1 at Christie Gilles Park.

The victory sees Dougie Samuel’s side leapfrog their opponents into third and just four points adrift of leaders Bonnyrigg.

Aaron Murrell’s neat finish three minutes before the half-time interval had Spartans ahead only for Strollers to restore parity midway through the second half.

But Spartans won it with nine minutes remaining when Jamie Dishington got on the end of a Scott Maxwell cross to turn the ball into the net.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh University followed up their maiden midweek victory over Gretna 2008 with another point following a remarkable 4-4 draw with Stirling University.

It was goals galore at East Peffermill and it didn’t take long for the opener, Stirling’s Scott McArthur finding the net after three minutes.

US Striker Ben Spelman levelled for Dorian Ogunro’s side after a quarter of an hour before the hosts found themselves in front ten minutes before the break, Patrick Baird on target.

Conor Doan responded from the penalty spot for Stirling six minutes before the interval. But within 60 seconds of the restart Spelman grabbed his second with a well-placed header to put the Capital side in front 3-2.

Stirling drew level again three minutes later through Euan McGill only for Innes Lawson to go and score a fourth. However, a second from McGill ensured a share of the spoils.