Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic, New Dundas Park – Hopper Tales #67

After last week’s trip to Gala Fairydean Rovers, Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic seemed like a perfect follow-up in the ‘great names for clubs’ stakes.

Situated just to the southeast of Edinburgh, “The Rose” are the newest club addition to the SPFL.

They won last season’s Lowland League Championship before defeating Fraserburgh (Highland League Champions) in the champion’s playoffs.

The Rose then faced off against Cowdenbeath for the right to be in the SPFL and crowned a tremendous season by defeating the ‘Blue Brazil’ twice over the two legs. They won 3-0 at New Dudas Park before visiting Central Park and completing the job with a 1-0 victory.

This season marks the highest position the Rose has ever played in their history.

A good time to be heading that way to see them play, then.

The Journey

As ever, our day started early. A six a.m. rise and out of the front door fifty minutes later to catch the 07:05 bus to Newcastle.

We arrived in Newcastle just before the hour and made our way for some breakfast. In a slight change of schedule, we shunned our normal Greggs pastries and swapped in a trip to McDonald’s instead.

While sitting there munching our Mighty McMuffins, my eye was drawn to the wall art in the far corner…

Anyone who is familiar with the term ‘pareidolia‘ will know exactly why I saw A.L.F. in this art. My eyes cannot unsee ALF holding down his next meal (his preferred snack was cats).

Extraterrestrial life forms aside, our breakfast was most welcome and very tasty. We left McD’s at around 08:20 and headed for the train station.

Our train was due at 08:49 but was at the station well before then. We climbed aboard and settled in for the ride.

After last week’s tragic events at Cramlington and the subsequent delays, I’m delighted to say there was no repeat of that this week. We set off at the appointed time and enjoyed the sun that was starting to poke its warmth at us through the window.

Edinburgh

We arrived in the Scottish capital at 10:20 and the sun followed us north. Edinburgh is a beautiful city anyway but in the sun, it really takes some beating.

Crowds of tourists milling along the street, bagpipers busting out the tunes to appeal to those tourists. Landmarks, historical buildings, modern shopping areas, Edinburgh really does have it all and Princes Street in the sun is a wonderful place for people-watching.

The Royal Mile and the castle sit atop the hill looking down on Princes Street and the eye-catching Scott Monument, with Waverley train station lying betwixt the two.

The next leg of our journey would start with a #31 bus from Princes Street.

We headed to Stand PJ and waited for one to appear. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the people-watching. One man, in particular, caught everyone’s attention as he staggered along shouting “British!”

I don’t know what the context for this was in his mind, he didn’t elaborate, unfortunately. A little fist-pumping and growling was all the extra knowledge he was prepared to impart.

Bonnyrigg

We got on the #31 at 11:00 and thirty minutes later, alighted in the small Midlothian town of Bonnyrigg.

With a 2021 consensus population of 19,180, this town is not much bigger than my home town of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. Uttoxeter Town FC currently plays in the ninth level of English football, to give some comparison to Bonnyrigg’s achievements.

Both clubs are currently playing at the highest level they have ever achieved and both have serious relegation concerns.

We headed to a pub that had been recommended to us on social media (thank you, Ryan Moffatt).

The Anvil Inn

The Anvil Inn is situated on Bonnyrigg’s High Street and is less than a five-minute walk from the ground. Perfect location for a pre-match pint and some lunch.

Despite not serving food until noon, we were made welcome and sat in the area near the large TV on the wall.

This early on, there weren’t many people in the place yet but that would soon change.

Just after noon, we ordered our food – steak and ale pie for me and macaroni cheese for Mrs Hopper. Two pints of Tennents were priced at a very reasonable £6.80, which would cost much more in Edinburgh’s tourist trap just up the road.

As we sat waiting for our meal, the Anvil started to fill up. As well as Bonnyrigg Rose shirts, we started seeing fans of Hibernian and Hearts gathering. This was because the big Edinburgh derby game at Easter Road was going to be shown on TV.

Bonus!

So, while the football played, we ate and everyone around us shouted almost as if it was a ritual… “Come on the Jambos!”. “Come on the Hibees!” We even got a “Come on the Rose!”

Then someone shouted “Goarrn Stoke!” Though I never noticed who that was… 👀

The rivalry in the pub was split pretty evenly, with possibly a slight edge to the Hibs’ allegiance. Either way, everyone was good-natured, despite the passion and it was great to be a part of it. Hibs were winning 1-0 by the time we left The Anvil and that’s the way it stayed.

We seem to be making a habit of this after watching the Glasgow derby last week in a pub split between the two.

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic – Exterior

After a short walk – down High Street, cross the road onto Dundas Street and turn left – we found ourselves at New Dundas Park.

There really isn’t much to see outside Bonnrigg Roses ground. There is a car park, two turnstiles – one for home fans and one for away fans – a players and officials entrance and a nice set of gates with the club crest on.

The rest of the ground is inaccessible from the outside, so this side of the ground is all there was to see.

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic – Interior

Payment for New Dundas Park is via cash or card at the gate. We paid £24.00 for the two of us and made our way inside.

We bought a programme from a seller just inside the ground beyond the turnstile. Like last week’s programme at Gala Fairydean Rovers, this was a 32-page effort costing just £2.00 and it represents great value compared to some others.

Given the recent successes of Bonnyrigg’s football team, this is basically a non-league club playing league football. That being said, I wasn’t expecting the ground to be like Somerset Park or Gayfield.

What we got, was pretty much what I expected, a good non-league setup with a few quirks and characteristics that set it apart from your run-of-the-mill stadiums.

South End

To our right after walking into the ground, is the south end.

This is the end behind the goal and has a small three-stepped terrace with a roof at the nearest end that stretches from the corner flag to the eighteen-yard box.

The rest of this end is basically a path to either get where you’re going or stand on to watch the game.

An outer brick wall and a net complete the picture.

West Side

Ahead of us is the west side of the ground and the one that is most built up.

The first structure is the largest one at New Dundas Park – a covered, raised terrace that stretches from the corner flag to just shy of the halfway line. It contains eight steps of terracing.

Beyond this is another covered terrace with just two raised steps and is smaller than the previous one. It does look like a newer structure than the first one, though. A small wooden structure perches on top of this roof. This is a TV gantry used by Bonnyrigg Rose to capture match highlights.

Between the second and third structures, is a path up to the toilets and the snack bar. The snack bar doubles up as a little club shop where I bought a pin badge for my collection. I am reliably informed that the doner kebab pie is a rare treat here but I was too full from my lunch to try one.

The third and final structure for supporters lies at the far end of the west side of the ground.

It is the only seated area at New Dundas Park and has three rows of seating and contains around eighty seats. Some of these are reserved for club directors.

The players’ tunnel is positioned between the second and third structures. There are portacabin-style dressing rooms behind the seated stand.

North End

The north end of the ground is bereft of any structures. There are some raised steps of terracing, some old and crumbling. A newer section lies directly behind the goal.

There is a wooden fence and a net at the top of the small bank to keep the ball out of the neighbour’s garden.

Technically, this is the designated ‘away end’, although there is nothing preventing supporters from moving around the ground as we did.

As we walked along the north end and into the east side of the ground, the Dumbarton players were going through their warm-up routines in front of us.

East Side

The east side of the ground is where the technical dugouts are located on either side of the halfway line.

A grassy bank lies to either side of these dugouts. The northern side is just a grassy bank but the southern end has crash barriers planted into the bank.

This is where we chose to stand and watch the match.

Also of note at New Dundas Park is the pitch itself. I imagine playing on it would be a little like being in the funhouse at the fair. It slopes downhill from west to east and also from south to north.

This would also make set pieces trickier than normal as you would have to adjust the strength and flight of your kick depending on which side you were taking them from.

There are four small LED floodlights which stand parallel to the eighteen-yard area. These were only installed as recently as 2019 and stand as another milestone in the club’s progress.

New Dundas Park has a total capacity of 2,640.

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic – Interior Gallery

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic – Pre-Game View of New Dundas Park

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic v Dumbarton – The Game

Form

Coming into this game, you would expect Dumbarton to be the form side, sitting in second place. However, eighth-placed Bonnyrigg Rose was actually showing better form coming into this match-up.

In their last four games, Dumbarton had lost three and drawn one of their matches, having been league leaders for much of the campaign. The current slump in form has cost them dearly and Stirling Albion are in a great position to clinch the title now.

Bonnyrigg Rose, in their last four matches, had registered two victories and two draws to pull them off the bottom of the table. Their last defeat was actually a narrow defeat away to Stirling Albion on the 11^th of March.

With such wayward form compared to league position, this wasn’t an easy match to call. I spoke to a Bonnyrigg supporter who we were sharing a barrier with and asked him for his prediction. He was feeling confident and said the Rose would win 2-0.

I wasn’t so confident and told him I expected a 2-2 draw.

Turns out I was partially right but completely wrong… (well, I got the two for Dumbarton right!)

Kick-Off

The home side got things started and almost conceded a goal straight from the kick-off.

The kick-off went backwards before being played forward into the Dumbarton half. This was our first glimpse of the Sons number 23, Martin McNiff winning an aerial challenge. It’s only a small exaggeration to say he headed the ball often enough during this match, to have the manufacturer’s name tattooed on his forehead by the end.

McNiff won the challenge and the ball fell to midfielder David Wilson. He pumped the ball forward, ahead of centre-forward Declan Byrne. Byrne outpaced the two defenders on either side of him and managed to get a shot off that cleared the crossbar.

Early shots fired… literally!

Dumbarton Penalty

In the 12^th minute, the next action of note led to a penalty for Dumbarton and it was all of Bonnyrigg’s making. A Dumbarton attack down the left was dealt with by Josh Grigor at the expense of a corner. Except (puts on Chris Tarrant voice) “We don’t want to give you that!”, Grigor tried to go one better by keeping the ball in play and trying to clear it.

He should have asked the audience first!

All he succeeded in doing was gifting possession to Byrne and he laid it back to the onrushing Wilson. Now, at the time, I thought this was a clear penalty. Wilson appeared to be tripped by Rose captain, Jonathan Stewart.

Having seen the highlights back, I’m not so sure he was actually touched. He seemed to trip over his own feet as he tried to shoot. Either way, match official Colin Whyte saw it the same way I initially had and pointed to the spot.

Wilson took the responsibility and stepped up to take it himself. He sent his shot low and to the left-hand corner and all looked good. That is until Rose’s keeper, Paddy Martin flung himself at full stretch to the same corner and managed to palm the ball away from goal and then sprang to his feet in time to watch the ball cleared for a throw-in.

Great save and a second huge let-off for Bonnyrigg.

Bonnyrigg Ultras

Time to give a little shout-out to the wee guys behind the goal. With an average age of approximately ten, they drummed, chanted and jumped about for almost the entire game and clearly enjoyed themselves.

This was probably never more apparent than after the penalty save where they did their level best to put Wilson off his kick. Only he will know if they did or not but if he’s nice, he will say they did.

They also lend a bit of colour to that south end of the ground with banners and flags pinned to the fence behind them.

Rosey Posey (yes, that is a club nickname) got in on the action midway through the half. A move down the right saw full-back Dean Brett play the ball into the area to striker Kieran McGachie. He laid it back to the oncoming Stewart but his weak side-footed effort was easily blocked. The ball ricocheted up into the air and fell nicely for Andy Rodden, who volleyed it just wide of the right-hand post.

Better from Bonnyrigg!

The last chance of the half also fell to Bonnyrigg. A free-kick was awarded centrally and about thirty yards from the goal. Neil Matiniyuk took it with his left foot and then had to stand and watch as it sailed harmlessly over the bar.

To be honest, that was pretty much it for a tepid first half.

In fact, you could say the half was ‘Sealed’ with a “Miss By A Rose”… if you were that way inclined.

After the early rush of action from Dumbarton, the game struggled to get going again and it was somewhat of a relief to hear the halftime whistle.

Let’s hope the two managers can bring more from the players in the second period.

Half-time – Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic 0 v Dumbarton 0

We used the halftime interval to find a different viewing point. Standing on the grassy bank wasn’t the most comfortable place and it wasn’t good for taking occasional videos either (a minor point).

We decided to stay on the same side of the pitch but head to the other side of the dugouts. While there is no segregation, this was the domain of the travelling supporters from West Dunbartonshire.

Mrs Hopper went to get a cup of tea from the snack bar to help her stay awake. We were both tired from the early start and the combination of travelling and lack of action for a good portion of the first half wasn’t helping matters.

Why does travelling make people so tired? After all, all we do is sit down in a seat and get moved from point to point.

It gets to us every single time.

The Second Half

Rather than trying to describe more mediocre action, we will fast forward to the 70^th minute where the heat was slowly turned up on this game.

It started with a move in front of us down Dumbarton’s right. Kalvin Orsi put in a tremendous ball at speed across the face of the goal and it just needed a tap-in. Unfortunately for the Sons, Byrne wasn’t able to get to the ball, despite looking like he might have been able to, had he anticipated it better.

Another let-off for the Rose.

That was where their luck ran out though and Dumbarton finally got their goal two minutes later.

Again it was Orsi in front of us putting in a cross that caused the danger. Although it didn’t clear the first man, the ball ricocheted off Martyniuk’s head and straight to Byrne on the edge of the six-yard box.

Byrne had been the likely goalscorer if anyone, and he made no mistake this time around, guiding his header past Martin’s despairing left hand and into the corner of the net.

0-1 Dumbarton!

Handball, or Not?

There was a suspected handball in the build-up to the Dumbarton goal but in my opinion, the referee got it right. It appeared to hit the top of Gregor Buchanan’s shoulder, which is not deemed to be handball according to the current rules on the FA’s website.

Whatever the rules say, the crowd and the Rose coaching staff weren’t happy with the decision and the level of dissent from both players and supporters grew as the game carried on.

Niggling fouls from the players started to creep into the game, while in the terraces opposite us, the rumbles of discontent got louder with each decision.

Amusingly, Mrs Hopper called it the Peanut Gallery, which made me chuckle.

It was probably just as well that we were standing amid the Dumbarton fans…

Matters weren’t helped in the lead-up to Dumbarton’s second goal in injury time.

McGachie went down clutching his face. There may have been an arm to his face, it was too far away for us to see amid the crowd of players the angle in the highlights doesn’t help either. But if there was contact, it was clearly accidental.

None of this mattered to the crowd though, having already seen a decision go against them and cost them a goal already.

After McGachie went down, the ball was headed into the Rose half, where it was controlled by Russell McLean. He turned and ran at the last two defenders and they parted like the Red Sea before Moses, allowing McLean to put the ball past Martin and seal the victory for Dumbarton.

0-2 Dumbarton!

That should have been the end of the drama but unfortunately, substitute Alieu Faye had other ideas. Having only been on the pitch a short while, he got caught up in the sense of injustice that was sweeping around New Dundas Park.

As he jumped for a contested aerial challenge, he decided to elbow/forearm smash a Dumbarton player in the face rather than try to win the header. He deservedly saw a straight red for his actions and that will see him sit out the rest of the season.

A really stupid decision on his part and he can have no complaints.

As he walked off laughing, I can confirm that he was the only person on the ground who thought his challenge and the resulting red card were amusing.

Full-Time Whistle

By this time, Mr Whyte was probably itching to blow his whistle and go home and he did just that moments after the game restarted.

As a neutral, I have to say I don’t think he had a bad game but I may be singing from a different hymnsheet were I a Rose supporter, I guess.

The players, despite their niggling differences during the half, all shook hands and departed the pitch without further incident

I think Dumbarton deserved the three points despite there not being a big difference in quality between the two sides on the day.

Rose manager, Robbie Horn is interviewed at the end of the highlights video below and I think he summed up the game pretty well. I would like to know if he has checked the incident he thought was handball and see if he changed his opinion, though.

I have tagged him on Twitter, so if you read this long-winded report, Robbie, I would love to know if you still think it was a handball.

A more professional Match Report is available here, on the Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic website.

Full-time – Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic 0 v Dumbarton 2

Attendance – 867

Entrance Fee – £12.00

Programme – £2.00

Up Next

Bonnyrigg has three fixtures left to play this season if they can stay clear of the relegation playoffs.

First up are two away trips. Forfar Athletic on the 22^nd and Annan Athletic on the 29^th. This is followed by what could be a crunch home game against fellow strugglers Elgin City.

At the other end of the table, Dumbarton faces four more games starting with a huge home clash against top-of-the-table Stirling Albion on the 18^th of April. This is followed by home games against East Fife (22^nd) and Stranraer (May 6^th) with a trip to Elgin City sandwiched between them (29^th).

Both clubs still have an awful lot to play for this season for differing reasons.

Thoughts

New Dundas Park is not a place to visit if you like the mod-cons of modern football stadia. However, if you like your football with a bit of character, then this is a great place to visit.

Clubs like Bonnyrigg Rose are an important part of their local community and Bonnyrigg is clearly a football-loving town.

They have an average home attendance of around 950 over the season. Admittedly this is a little inflated by big crowds at the start of the season and while it may not seem like a lot to some, considering the size of the town and the close proximity to the big Edinburgh teams, I think it’s quite impressive.

It’s also, by my reckoning, the highest average attendance in League Two.

The Anvil Inn is a great place for a pre-match pint and/or food and is very close to the ground.

Buses are fairly frequent to and from Edinburgh, making transport a non-problem if you don’t drive.

I’m fairly sure if the Rose ever has the ambition to climb higher up the leagues, they will have to make some considerable adjustments to both their ground and the pitch. That’s a future problem though, and right now, they have their work cut out to stay in the SPFL and I wish them much luck with that endeavour!

Also, I have seen comments about the town of Bonnyrigg bearing the nickname “Boomtown”. I also saw it on a banner behind the goal where the young Rose fans were standing. Despite Googling this, I can’t seem to find an answer as to why this nickname prevails.

I doubt Bob Geldof has a holiday home here but I remain open to being convinced…

If you know the answer, please do drop a line of explanation in the comments.

Bonnyrigg – After the Game

Following the game, we exited NDP and headed for our bus back to Edinburgh.

We skirted around one gentleman who seemed to be heading towards a long sleep on the pavement. He was still tightly clutching his empty whisky bottle as he valiantly remained upright on the bus stop bench near the Calderwood Inn.

I’m not sure if we caught him pre, or post “British!” time.

Our bus arrived at 17:20 and we headed back to Edinburgh, arriving about thirty minutes later.

Our train tickets were booked for 19:00 but we managed to get a seat on the 18:30 train, thanks to the guard allowing us to do so after asking him.

Thank you, sir!

This, in turn, meant we were back in Newcastle earlier than expected at 19:50. We just missed the 21:05 bus home, meaning we had to wait half an hour for the 20:35 instead.

Still, an early arrival home by our standards and we were through the front door by 21:30.

Terrace Trendy

If you are looking for some natty threads to wear on the terraces, then you could do far worse than take a look at Stjärna. Despite the Nordic name (it is Swedish and means ‘A star’), this is a company based in Scotland and I have taken the plunge and bought a couple of their Malmo shirts.

Click the pic to go straight to their website.

Next Up For Hoppers Guide

Another trip into Scotland next week, as we relentlessly pursue our goal to ‘do the forty-two’ league grounds of the SPFL.

This time, it will be our second trip to Dundee. Having already visited Dens Park, home of Dundee (Hoppers Tales #55), this time we will visit Tannadice, home of their city rivals Dundee United.

Their opponents on the day will be the West Lothian side, Livingston FC.

A huge game for United as they try to maintain their SPL status. Meanwhile, Livingston are still hopeful of pushing for a top-six finish to get in the top half of the post-split games.

Looking forward to this one…

Onto the next!

Hopper Tales #66 – Gala Fairydean Rovers

Hopper Tales #68 – Dundee United