Carluke Rovers welcomed East Kilbride Thistle to the John Cumming Stadium today in this West of Scotland League game. Everyone was expecting a tight game as the last time these two teams met was in the Cup recently and Carluke ran out narrow winners with a late goal.

However it did not take long for the first goal of the game and it went the way of Carluke. A Carluke midfielder was fouled just inside their own half but instead of blowing his whistle the Referee allowed play to continue. The ball was slipped to Greg Miller who used his strength to shrug off a defender before sliding the ball past the keeper into the net. 1-0 to Carluke after 10 minutes.

The game was being played at a good tempo but with neither team really creating a clear cut chance. However in 31 minutes but for a timely block Craig Rutherford would have made it 2-0 to Carluke. Then 7 minutes later a shot by Carluke striker Josh Bell whistled past the far post.

However it wasn’t all one way traffic and with the end of the first half approaching East Kilbride were pushing hard for an equaliser. Firstly in 44 minutes their No8 pulled his shot just wide of the near post when it should have been easier to hit the target. Then right on halftime Carluke had a very lucky escape when the ball hit off the inside of the post and was cleared to safety. Halftime 1-0 to Carluke.

The second half got underway with Carluke determined to hang on to their lead and if possible extend it. East Kilbride on the otherhand knew they were still in the game and looked to continue their strong finish to the first half. However just after the hour mark it was Carluke who were to strike the first blow. Good work by Josh Fullerton down the right saw the ball fed into Mark O’Relly just inside the box. He in turn played a lovely back heel into the path of Josh Bell who calmly slotted the ball under the East Kilbride keeper and into the bottom of the net. 2-0 to Carluke.

At this point East Kilbride were pushing more men forward to try and recover the game but this left space at the back and Carluke were breaking well and created several chances to put the game to bed. Firstly a great cross field pass by Greg Miller found Josh Bell in the clear and he attempted to float the ball over the keeper but he got a despairing hand to it and managed to put the ball round the post. Then in the 73rd minute a corner was flighted in by Dom Small which found the head of Arthur Martin but his effort went over the bar from 6 yards out.

There was always the danger though that if Carluke continued to spurn chances there was the prospect that Eat Kilbride could get one back and this indeed was the case in the 80th minute. A nice one two on the left hand side saw the East Kilbride No3 bear down on the Carluke goal and his right foot shot went low into the bottom corner despite a despairing dive by Josh McGill in the Carluke goal. 2-1 and East Kilbride right back in it.

This setback though did not seem to deter Carluke Rovers and two minutes later they created another opportunity to score a third following good work by William McGlone whose pass found Brandon McKenzie but his shot low down was well saved by the Keeper. McKenzie had another glorious chance in the 86th minute when he turned the East Kilbride No4 on the 6 yard box but his low shot from close range was again blocked by the East Kilbride keeper.

Carluke were to rue those missed chances when in the last minute of the game East Kilbride got a corner on the right hand side which they took short. Instead of knocking the ball back the East Kilbride player turned inside and ran along the bye line. He cut it back to the edge of the six yard box to one of his players’ who calmy stroked the ball home. 2-2. This was to be the last of the action and the Carluke Rovers trudged off the pitch despondent knowing this was a game they should have won. Final Score Carluke Rovers 2 East Kilbride Thistle 2.

Photography by Kevin Ramage