The Rovers travelled to the Garscadden home of BSC Glasgow for their 5th away fixture in a row.

On a surprisingly warm day for April, the Rovers hope was that they could overturn the result of the January fixture against their opponents at the John Cumming Stadium.
The first half was a competitive affair with both teams putting pressure on their opponent’s defence with little real impact on the respective keepers.

There was a claim, early on, for a penalty when Carluke’s Blair was clearly pushed inside the box, but it was waived away by the referee. Both Lawlor and Blair for the visitors were having some success on the wings however for the most part their cross balls and forays into the box did not cause trouble for Dick in the BSC goal. In the middle of the park Fullerton and Logan were industrious and dominated the midfield battle.

On 37 minutes, the Rovers were awarded a penalty when McGrillen was fouled inside the box. Unfortunately Fullerton’s well struck strike was saved when the keeper managed to stop the shot with his leg and the rebound was cleared. There were calls for a retake of the spot kick as a BSC player was well inside the box when the penalty was taken.

The home team took the lead on 42 minutes. A free kick from just inside the Rover’s half was launched to the far side of the Carluke box. Despite the pressure from several Rovers defenders, BSC’s number 9, Dodds, jumped clear of the defence and headed the ball back towards the goal and over the head of Sanderson in the Carluke goal, to score the opening goal.

Carluke were, by a considerable margin, the better team of the first half. Individual battles were won all over the park. However the half finished with the home team in the lead. A depressingly familiar occurrence for the visitors.

HT BSC 1-0 Rovers

If Carluke were competitive, but unlucky in the first half it was their opponents who dominated for long spells after the break. The individual battles which the Rovers dominated in the first half were sadly lacking in the second.

As the half wore on it looked as though the single goal would settle the contest. However, as in the first half, BSC found the net in the dying minutes to put the result beyond the Rovers.

A ball over the top of the Carluke defence was chased down by the Rovers number 4, Fraser, and the BSC number 10, Nyame. The resultant tussle for possession was won when Fraser was upended which allowed Nyame to run into the box with only Sanderson to beat. His shot under the spreadeagled Carluke stopper finished the game as a contest.

FT BSC 2-0 Rovers

The Rovers have a free week next weekend and are then once again on their travels the following week when they visit the home of Thorn Athletic in Johnstone.

Photography by Kevin Ramage