Rose went into this game with nothing to lose - playing Premier League opposition with 4 men missing was always going to be a big ask but there were to be no excuses as we started with a strong 11 and brought Ste McD out of retirement at the eleventh hour to provide the cover.
Maggies started strongly with some good football and movement, they had a couple of early chances but Rose held strong.
Rose's first real chance came from a Dicky Machell free kick - now we've been waiting all season for this but it was worth the wait - Dicky hit a driven curling strike over the wall and into the roof of the net, Rose were ahead against the run of play.
The second came after some better play from Yorkshire Rose, starting to settle into the game and knock it about a good passing move saw Tatts pull clear and his sweetly struck shot flew into the bottom right - 2 nil Rose.
Mggies were still in the game but looking a little shell shocked when Tatts run led to a Button's tap in.
With 45 minutes on the clock Rose made a fatal error at the back, Stavros's scissor kick clearance flew straight back into the box and then nicked a goal to keep the tie alive, the whistle blew immediately after.
Rose were comfortable at half time and confident they could see the game out...
We started the second half well and took a 3 goal lead when Tatts knocked in another.
At this point the game looked dead and buried and no one expected a Maggies come back but they capitalised on a few slack passes and got back in the game with their 2nd and 3rd in quick succession.
The 4th for Maggies came from a sloppy pass in midfield which allowed their player an easy run through and another goal, now Rose were struggling to hold on and wondering what was going wrong.
In the 92nd minute Dav stuck a leg out and gave away a penalty offfering Maggies the chance of extra time and Penalties, their midfielder duly tucked it away and into extra time we went.
Both teams looked absolutely knackered - apart from Buttons who was still working hard and keeping their defence busy.
The key moment came when their winger decided to slap the nut on Arran and was given a straight Red, this was a clear lift to the Rose lads and we started knocking it about well in the 2nd half of extra time, Ste McD to Kris Jt to Tatts Dicky to Buttons.... the ambition was clear and when Jt was slid through his precise finish was just what we needed.
A goal behind Maggies threw everyone forward and Rose lapped it up taking their chances on the counter, this paid off twice when Tatts and Dicky both scored decent goals but it could have been more in the end as Maggies deserted their defence Ste Mc D slotted a through ball for Kris whose shot glided over the keeper and hit the bar.
All in all it was a good performance, the Semi is against Rawdon Old Boys AWAY at The Billing on the 18th April (with lines men)...
