Carluke came into this West of Scotland League Cup game on the back of an excellent league victory against local rivals Lanark.

The game quickly settled down to an entertaining game of attack and counterattack, however it was the visitors who took the lead in the 13th minute with a 25 yard shot which beat the outstretched Rovers keeper at his right hand post.

The Rovers continued to press for an opening goal and they were rewarded when a pass from Curran on the right found Josh Bell just inside the Finnart box. His pass across the box found Dom Small in space. His shot back across the goal gave the Finnart keeper no chance of stopping the ball hitting the back of the net for the equaliser.

The game continued at the same pace but the halftime whistle went with no further change to the score line.

The second half continued at the same pace as the first without either team causing much trouble for the opposing keepers.

On the hour mark a reckless tackle by the Finnart number 7 on Christy Lawlor, resulted in a red card for the visitor and Lawlor substituted for the injury. These events seemed to galvanise the Rovers and they took the lead with 15 mins left on the clock when substitute Dillon Black’s cross come shot from the right evaded everyone and found the net.

The Rovers increased their lead a few minutes later when Greg Millar pounced on a ball from the right and slotted the ball home from just inside the box.

However Finnart were determined to stay in the competition and battled hard for a quick response. They were helped when the home side appeared to sit in and soak up the pressure from the visitors.

Almost inevitably the Finnart second goal and their equaliser came quickly and they even had a chance to win the game with a final shot over the Carluke crossbar. When the referee blew for the end of the ninety minutes it was all square.

Competition rules meant it was straight to penalty kicks. After 5 penalties it was 3 goals each, and when both teams scored the first of the sudden death kicks the tie was won by the visitors when the Rovers seventh penalty was missed and Finnart scored theirs.

The Rovers are on league duty next week and travel to Springburn to play Finnart again. The game has been moved to Friday evening at the home sides request.

Westcoast Storage and Removal Limited
Rovers Man of the Match
Kieran Evans

Photography by Kevin Ramage