Carluke Rovers welcomed league leaders Knightswood to the John Cumming Stadium today for this West Of Scotland league match. The visitors had only suffered one defeat this season but Carluke were coming into the game confident on an eleven game undefeated league run.

The game kicked off in bright sunshine and both teams started cagily as the weighed each other up. In fact it took till the 26th minute for the first chance to be created. Carluke were dispossessed in their own half and the ball was picked up by former Rovers player Kwaku Nyame but his shot from 18 yards out went just past the post.

Then in 38 minutes Knightswood nearly took the lead when a cross field pass to the left wing found the Knightswood player through but his shot was well parried by Garry Black in the Rovers goal. However the keeper’s save only managed to slow the ball down and it had to be cleared off the line.

This was the last real action in what had been an even first half but Carluke were hoping to put more pressure on Omar Joof in the Knightswood goal if they were to have any hope of taking all three points.

However as the second half got underway it was Knightswood who were to get the first goal. In 48 minutes. The ball was fed down the right wing and crossed into Nyame. The striker controlled the ball and had time to slot it into the far corner from 15 yards to make the score 0-1 to Knightswood.

This goal forced Carluke’s hand and they knew they had to push hard to get back into this game. The equaliser nearly came in the 50th minute. Good tenacity from Ben Rennie on the right wing saw him gain possession before crossing the ball into Connor McQueen. The striker lashed the ball from 12 yards but it hit the bar. The ball came back to him and his next effort was brilliantly saved by Joof in the Knightswood goal.

Then in 73 minutes Rovers got the goal their second half play had merited. In his own half Connor McQueen collected the ball and fed it to the hard working Mikey Downs on the halfway line. The striker looked up and saw Ross Steele bursting through the middle of the park. He fed the ball into the midfielder who bore down on goal before calmly slotting the ball into the far corner to make the score 1-1. Three minutes later a great effort by Kyle McAdam was well saved by the Knightswood keeper but it was followed up by Downs who knocked it over the line only to be given offside by the Referee.

Carluke continued to press for the second goal and both Downs and Steele had efforts but they were directly at the Keeper who held both.

Then just as it looked as if the game was going to end in a draw Carluke plotted their own downfall. In the 90th minute Ross Girdwood tried to usher the ball out over the bye line but was dispossessed and when the ball was knocked into the box a shot by Granger was covered by Black in the Rovers goal but as the Keeper went down the ball deflected off a Rovers player and nestled in the back of the net. 1-2 to Knightswood.

This was cruel blow for Carluke and coming so late in the game gave them no chance of getting another equaliser. The game finished 1-2 to Knightswood who left the John Cumming Stadium a very relieved team.

On this showing Carluke Rovers are definitely on the right path and but for a poor start to the season would be challenging at the top of the top of the table. Next week the team are away to local rivals Royal Albert which will be another tough game in this very competitive league.

Photography by Kevin Ramage