On an unseasonably warm day Carluke travelled to Stonehouse hoping to go one better than the scoreless draw from the earlier fixture at the John Cumming Stadium. It would be difficult task as their visitors were on a good run of form with only 1 defeat in 9 games.

As it was they would succeed and would extend the points difference between the teams to 8 points.

As the game progressed in the first half the quality of football played by both sides was sadly lacking. All too often long balls were played out of defence, bypassing midfield, only to be returned to the opposition half by a headed clearance. Occasionally the Rovers made enough headway to put pressure on the home defence. On 29 minutes Ben Rennie picked up a clearance but his shot from outside the box narrowly missed over the crossbar.

On 35 minutes, Rovers leading scorer Ross Steele picked up a loose ball just outside the Albert box but his shot was easily saved by the Albert keeper.

A few minutes later the visitors conceded a free kick on the left hand side, five yards outside their penalty box. The shot from the free kick looked goal bound as it flew past the defensive wall. Fortunately for Carluke, it hit the outside of the left upright and landed out of play.

HT Royal Albert 0 – 0 Rovers

Right from the whistle to start the second half both teams looked to be determined improve the standard of play of the first half in an effort to find the opening goal.
Royal Albert pressed hard to break the deadlock but it was Carluke that opened the scoring. On 51 minutes, a pass from the Rovers defence was picked up by Rovers number 8, Kyle McAdam, just outside the Albert penalty box. His perfectly weighted pass through the home defence found Connor McQueen who fired his shot past the Albert keeper and into the back of the net via the far upright.

As the half progressed Royal Albert gameplay changed to playing long balls from the keeper with the intention of putting pressure on the visitors defence. Whilst they were having limited success with this tactic, for the most part the Carluke defence handled the pressure. As the half progressed the Rovers began to play the quality of football which has brought them an impressive run of unbeaten games.

On 70 minutes Rovers Steele picked up a pass inside the opposition half on the right hand side. Under pressure from the Albert defenders he pushed forward to just outside their box and got off a shot which looked dangerous but it flew inches over the Albert bar.

As the game moved into the last 10 minutes the home side continued to put the Rovers defence under pressure. However injuries to Rovers captain Inch, and defender Girdwood, took some of the pressure off.
As the clock ran down Rovers number 9, Downs, picked up a pass from substitute Owen, but his shot flew harmlessly past the post.

As the game progressed well into “time added on” the visitors extended their lead when a ball played out of the Rovers defence found substitute Jacob MacEachen, who passed it to Steele and his shot was fired across the keeper and into the goal on the far side.

FT Royal Albert 0 – 2 Rovers

The Rovers next match is at John Cumming Stadium, when they welcome 4th placed Easterhouse. Kick off 2

Photography by Kevin Ramage