Carluke made the trip into Glasgow today for a Scottish Junior Cup tie against Premier side Pollock FC. This was always going to be a tough encounter for the Rovers and so it turned out to be in front of over 500 spectators.

The game kicked off at Newlandsfield with the home team on the front foot right from the very start. They had been unexpectedly beaten by lower league opposition at this stage last season in the form of Dalry Thistle and were keen that it didn’t happen again.

It took only till the 4th minute for the home side to create their first chance when a scramble in the 6 yard box resulted in a sharp save by Garry Black in the Rovers goal. However 3 minutes later Pollock got their first goal. A break through the middle saw the ball slipped to Ciaran McPhie who calmy slotted it past Rovers keeper Black to make the score 1-0 to Pollock.

Then in 12 minutes a freekick out by the corner flag was hit in very low by Pollock to the front post. For some reason Carluke had left it unguarded. When the ball came in Adam Forde got their first and simply deflected the ball into the Rovers net.

It was constant pressure from Pollock with Carluke camped in their own half and it was no surprise when Pollock got a third in the 29th minute. Liam Lapsley latched onto to a misplaced pass in the Carluke defence and calmly stroked the ball into the back of the net. 3-0.

Then just before halftime two quickfire goals from Stephen Docherty and Ciaran McPhie killed any faint chance Carluke had of getting back into the game with a halftime score of 5-0 to Pollock.

Carluke came out in the second half with the Manager having made a couple of changes to try and stem the tide but it was going to be very difficult against a Pollock side who just did not let up throughout the game. That said Carluke had not done themselves justice on the day with one of poorest performances of the season.

There were occasional flashes from Carluke and one came in the 49th minute when from a throw in James Miller flashed a shot past the right hand post. These efforts were rare however and It was no surprise when Pollock extended their lead further in the 51st minute. A wonderful volley from outside the box by Chris O’Kane left Black in the Carluke goal rooted to the spot as the ball sailed into the roof of the net.

From here it was damage limitation for Carluke but they didn’t sit back and tried to find a way through the Pollock defence but without much success. Pollock were to make it 7 in the 58th minute when a cross to the backpost was headed down to Liam Lapsley at the edge of the box. He beat his man and hit a left foot shot which went in under the bar.

As mentioned earlier Pollock maintained their eagerness for more goals and in 81 minutes they got their 8th and final goal when the winger cut along the byline and knocked the ball back to Adam Forde who had an easy tap in from close range to complete the scoring.

This result was a combination of Pollock being at their best and Carluke putting in one of their worst performances of the season. Take nothing away from Pollock however who were slick in their passing and movement and would have been a handful for anyone on the day. Carluke however need to dust themselves down and use this experience to give a better account of themselves next week against Buckie Thistle in the’ Scottish Cup.

Photography by Kevin Ramage