BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport
MICHAEL ANDREWS is adamant Bonnyrigg Rose did themselves justice during a memorable Scottish Cup campaign – despite seeing their journey end with a chastening 8-1 reverse against Hibernian.
The Midlothian minnows defeated Glasgow University, Burntisland Shipyard, Turriff United and Cove Rangers before an unforgettable 1-0 win over Championship outfit Dumbarton saw them reach the fourth round for the first time in their history.
However, Hibees gave short shrift to the notion of the ‘fairytale’ continuing as they ran up a comprehensive triumph at a sold-out Tynecastle on Saturday.
Andrews was responsible for the opening goal, allowing a tame Andrew Shinnie shot to squirm through his grasp – for which he apologised to his teammates. James Keatings (2), Chris Humphrey, Jason Cummings (2), Lewis Stevenson and Jordon Forster would go on to find the net, with Dean Hoskins netting a consolatory penalty kick.
And, while licking his wounds in the immediate aftermath, Andrews believes Bonnyrigg will look back on the 2016/17 cup run with immense pride.
Andrews added: “It’s a hard one. The dressing room was flat but we have to remember who we were playing and where we were playing.
“I apologised to the boys for the first goal. It’s one of those things for a goalkeeper. It happens. For the two or three after, we should have got closer to them. It was about trying to keep the score down by as much as we could after that.
“We didn’t want to concede as many as that for our confidence, but I don’t think we can be embarrassed.
“We had to win our league, get through the first few rounds and then get past Dumbarton, which was a terrific achievement. We were just up against a massive team playing fantastically well on Saturday.
“The boys will remember this for the rest of our days. It’s probably the biggest game some of us will ever get to play in. I think all the boys need to remember how far we’ve come during this run.”
