from Tom Freeman (12/6/23)
Above: Bonnyrigg Rose celebrate their promotion to the SWF National Leagues after their play-off final win over Harmony Row. Photo: SportPix.
Bonnyrigg Rose have secured promotion to the National Leagues after surprising SWFL West winners Harmony Row with a 4-0 victory in the play-off final.
The Midlothian side coped better with muggy conditions in Airdrie to win 4-0 with goals from Erin Carter, Saffron McCabe, Caitlin Lowe, and skipper Dani Manson. Allied to this was a heroic performance by their goalkeeper Erin Rodgers, who saved a Claire Rae penalty late in the first half and was called into action several times in the second.
Harmony Row went into the final game of the Scottish Women’s Football pyramid season as favourites, after winning the Biffa SWFL West comfortably, but were missing some key players against a young side who had fought back in their first play-off against Forfar Farmington and started this second chance tie maintaining similar levels of pace and drive.
Talismanic Harmony Row forward Rae was restricted to long-range efforts for much of the game and left frustrated by Rodgers and the Rose defence.
Bonnyrigg Rose now follow Forfar Farmington and Queen of the South to move from the regional leagues to take a spot in the national set-up in a league that includes Falkirk, Stenhousemuir and St Mirren, Edinburgh Caledonia and Grampian Ladies, Airdrie Ladies, Giffnock Soccer Centre, BSC Glasgow and Dundee West, and which proved highly competitive in its inaugural season.
FirstPoint USA Cross-Regional Cup Finals
In Alloa, nearly 400 people attended the 18s cross-regional cup finals, sponsored by scholarship partners FirstPoint USA.
Glasgow City 18s development team won the FirstPoint USA West Cup, winning an all-Glasgow final against Glasgow Girls 18s 4-1. Glasgow Girls had pegged City back at halftime thanks to a Bailey Cooper equaliser, but City proved too strong in the second half to lift yet more silverware this season for the giant of women’s football in Scotland.
In the FirstPoint USA East Cup final, Jeanfield Swifts 18s were 3-0 up after 70 minutes and had to see off an exciting fightback by Penicuik Athletic to lift the silverware. Penicuik scored in the 90th minute and battled to send the final into extra time but were denied by the final whistle.
impetusfootball.org 