Rose in control of final
Lowland League champions Bonnyrigg Rose took a big step towards the SPFL af ter beat ing 10- man Cowdenbeath in the first leg of the Pyramid play- off final.
Sean Brown, a Neil Martyniuk penalty and a Dean Brett header sealed the win af ter Har vey Swann picked up a second yellow in 32 minutes.
Rose boss Robbie Horn said: “It was a really good professional performance from the players.
“We controlled the game and could have scored again at the end.”
In front of a crowd of 2202 at New Dundas Park the home side came flying out of the traps.
The game- changing moment arrived with just over half an hour played as
Cowden defender Swann saw red after picking up his second yellow for diving in on Brett.
Rose made the man advantage count f ive minutes before the break when Bradley Bar ret t crossed for Brown, who flung himself at the ball and it crossed the line under keeper Cammy Gill.
The home side were awa r de d a p ena l t y when Connolly was fouled by Kyle Mi l ler, with Martyniuk dispatching from 12 yards.
Cowden went close to halving the deficit four minutes after the restart but Kerr Young produced a last- ditch block to deny Andrew Barrowman.
Rose gave themselves a three-goal cushion with 14 minutes remaining when ex- Cowden full-back Brett returned to haunt his former side as he popped up at the back post to nod in.
Gill then denied Rose a fourth of the afternoon as he saved well with his feet to thwart Barrett’s effort.
At the other end, Rose keeper Mark Weir was alert to save from Barrowman.