"We have had zero luck": Fury and frustration for Bonnyrigg Rose after controversial red card and freak goal

His anger and frustration was raw after a 1-0 home defeat by Gary Naysmith’s Stenhousemuir which leaves the Lowland League champions four points adrift at the bottom of League Two.

Dean Brett’s controversial red after half an hour was the source of Horn’s anger and the game’s major talking point. The Bonnyrigg wing-back flicked out his fingers towards Nicky Jamieson’s midriff as he ran past the Stenhousemuir defender after a tangle near the touchline. The contact appeared to be minimal, but Jamieson fell to the turf. After consulting his linesman, referee Alan Newlands issued a red card for violent conduct.

Although Bonnyrigg rose to the challenge of playing with ten men for an hour and more than matched their opponents in a game of very few chances, a freak goal by Matty Yates midway through the second half left them empty handed. Again.

“It’s incredibly frustrating when your players are putting so much into the game and they get done by a decision,” said Horn. “It wasn’t the referee. He didn’t even see it. It was the linesman who made that decision.

“Yes, maybe Deano shouldn’t have done what he did, but the player reacted in the wrong way. He got Deano sent off. We can’t do anything about it now. There is no point appealing. It’s done. The referee has trusted the linesman and he’s got it wrong.”

Bonnyrigg have now lost four or their last five games by the odd goal. But Horn is satisfied with recent performances and has not felt the need to make drastic changes to his team.

“We’ve been competitive in all these games and we have deserved something out of all of these games,” insisted the manager. “We’ve just been on the wrong side of too many decisions. We keep hearing that over the course of the season things will even themselves up. Well, we are due a lot of them because so far we have had zero luck.

“We had a mountain to climb, but for a spell after the red card we actually looked more threatening than them. We 100 per cent deserved to take something out of the game. The goal was a cross. It’s bobbled up, he’s hit it and it’s ended up in the net. It sums up our luck. That’s the way it has been going for us. They got that bit of luck and we didn’t.”

There is no panic. Cheered on by noisy young ultras in another big crowd of 819, Bonnyrigg are playing well enough to pick up points. But after one win and six defeats this year, and with 11 massive games left to play, they need their luck to turn soon. The next opportunity comes on Tuesday when Forfar Athletic visit New Dundas Park.

“When you’re down there you don’t get any luck and we’re certainly not getting any decisions, that’s for sure,” added Horn. “But if we keep working as hard as we have been in recent games, we will turn the corner. Hopefully that will start on Tuesday night against Forfar and we pick up three points.”

Bonnyrigg Rose: Martin; Young, Horne, Grigor (Scott Gray 83); Brett, Arnott (Currie 83), Stewart (Doan 82), Connelly, Martyniuk; Mitchell (McGachie 86), Smith (Murray 63). Subs Not Used: McGale, Ross Gray, Faye, Andrews. Sent Off: Brett (33). Booked: Martyniuk.

Stenhousemuir: Lyle, Corbett, Crighton, Jamieson, Yeats, Miller, Wedderburn, Andersen (O'Reilly 46), Forbes (Orr 67), Reilly (Speirs 88),Matt Yates (Adam Brown 81). Subs Not Used: Lowdon, Cantley, Blaney. Booked: O'Reilly. Goals: Matt Yates 69.

Attendance: 819. Referee: Alan Newlands.