Junior Cup: Bonnyrigg '˜won't fear any tea in semi-final

The Bonnyrigg Rose players celebrate Wayne McIntoshs goal

Rose belittled the supposed gulf between the East and West leagues with a dominant victory against a side which, until several weeks ago, were top of the West Super League.

They now have a double legged semi-final to look forward to for the first time in five years against either Auchinleck Talbot, Glenafton or league rivals Linlithgow Rose. And McIntosh says they’ll be confident against any of them.

“The gaffer [Robbie Horn] has been harping on at us at training about when we played Pollok last season and they came through and battered us,” said McIntosh.

“He kept saying we needed to start well and I thought we did everything he asked of us. We came out the blocks quickly and put pressure on them and they couldn’t handle us. I thought it was a one-sided game in the first half and we deserved our two-goal lead.

“We were owed it to ourselves, the club and the manager to get the semi-finals. We were never going to win the other Scottish Cup, it was good to go on the run that we did and it was a fairytale, but this is a cup we can win.

“We went out and made a statement by beating a very good team. There’s still good teams in the cup so we’ll just see who we get.

“We’ve got nothing to fear against any of them, we just do what Bonnyrigg does best, we just worry about ourselves. It’s what we do on the day, it’s not about who they’ve got or if they’ve won it before.”

Rose got off to the dream start they craved after only eight minutes. Ruaridh Donaldson’s cross was flapped at by visiting goalkeeping Michael McKinven who sent his weak punch straight to Alan Horne and the unlikely scorer returned it with a looping volley into the net.

The visitors couldn’t handle Rose, choosing to indulge in some dark arts off the ball in a bid to frustrate the hosts as they simply couldn’t get close to them on the pitch.

McIntosh deservedly made it two on 37 minutes as he stooped to nod in Jonny Brown’s inch perfect ball on the right from close range.

Dean Hoskins then almost made it three with a snapshot from 14 yards but McKinven got down well to his right to push the ball wide.

Rose remained in the ascendancy after the break, McIntosh cracking a dipping volley off the roof of the bar on 62 minutes as they went in search of a third.

Rob Roy had yet to test home keeper Michael Andrews, and it was a fine block from defender Ewan Moyes which prevented the stopper from having to make a save from Willie Sawyers’ strike.

Sawyers then saw red on 75 minutes, earning his second booking for diving midway inside Rose’s half. With an extra man, Rose were able to see the remainder out comfortably.

Rose boss Robbie Horn was delighted with his players, he said: “It’s a huge win. We let ourselves down last season against Pollok but we wrote a wrong on Saturday. We were well in control and deserved to be in front.

“We were up for the challenge and were on the front foot from the off. We didn’t let them play at all.

“We’ll take anybody in the semis, you’ve got to beat the best teams if you are going to win a competition. Hopefully over the two legs we’ll be good enough to beat any of them.”

Bonnyrigg Rose: Andrews, Brown, Hoskins, Young, Moyes, Stewart, McIntosh, Horne, McGachie (Turner), Nelson (Nelson) Donaldson (Gray)

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy: McKinven, Walker, MacKenzie, Green, Barr, Whelan, Gallacher (Johnston), McMenamin, Sawyers, Watt (McKie), Duff