It was back to league duty for Carluke Rovers today as they welcomed Rossvale FC to the John Cumming Stadium. Rossvale are fighting for that third promotion place but Carluke have been much improved over the last couple of months and a tight encounter was expected.

The game started quietly enough but when former Rover Barry Fraser misjudged a bouncing ball at the back it allowed Mikey Downs in on goal. He saw the Rossvale keeper off his line and tried to lob him but unfortunately his effort went wide of the post.

As expected this was proving to be a tight encounter with very few clear cut chances at either end. However on the stroke of halftime Carluke were awarded a free kick just outside the box. Chris Owen curled the ball round the wall with his left foot and into the side netting away from the Keeper to make it 1-0 to Carluke at halftime.

The second half got underway with Carluke looking to capitalise on their first half lead but within a minute of the restart Rossvale were level. Good play down the right wing saw the ball swung into the centre of the box. It wasn’t handled well by the Carluke rearguard and it finished near the penalty spot to be dispatched into the net by Greg Harrower to make the score 1-1.

This was an early blow for Carluke but they nearly regained the lead in the 57th minute. Good work down the left saw the ball find it’s way to striker Mikey Downs but as he worked it on to his right foot Rossvale Keeper, Kieran Marshall got his hand to the resultant effort to palm it over the bar.

At the other end in the 65th minute a Rossvale corner wasn’t cleared by the Rovers defence and fell to the feet of Kevin Docherty who prodded it over the line to give Rossvale the lead at 1-2.

In a game which was now going from one end to the other it took Carluke only one minute to get the equaliser. Good play by Ross Steele saw the ball fed to Chris Owen. He crossed a great ball to the backpost which was headed back across goal to the onrushing Steven Logan who placed the ball beautifully into the bottom corner making the score 2-2.

Both teams went in search of a winner and chances were missed at either end. However it was Rovers substitute, Ben Rennie who gave Carluke the lead again. He picked up the ball just outside the box and managed to wriggle free of a couple of challenges before dispatching it into the bottom left corner in the 80th minute.

Incredibly, as had been the case for both teams earlier in the match, Carluke held on to their lead for only one minute. From the restart Rossvale moved the ball to the right wing where it was crossed into the box. Greg Harrower got on the end of it and shot towards goal. It was well saved by Garry Black but the ball rebounded to Harrower who made no mistake with the second effort squaring the match up again at 3-3.

This was to be the final score in a match that Carluke maybe just edged in clear cut chances created but both teams left disappointed they did not secure all three points. Final Score 3-3.

Photography by Kevin Ramage