It was back to league duty for Carluke Rovers today following their Scottish Cup exit last week as they welcomed Vale of Leven to the John Cumming Stadium.

Carluke were hampered by injuries to several key players and so it was going to be more difficult than normal to get a result in what is proving to be a difficult season.

The game started quietly enough and the first real effort came in the 8th minute when a direct free kick for Vale of Leven hit off the Carluke bar and was cleared to safety. Vale of Leven had slightly more possession in the early exchanges without really threatening but in the 18th minute a lapse of concentration in the Carluke defence enabled the Vale of Leven No 8 to steal possession and run through on goal. He knocked the ball past Josh McGill in the Carluke goal and tapped the ball into the empty net despite the efforts of Tayler Jessimer to get back and clear. 0-1.

After this setback Carluke pushed to get an equalizer and a good through ball from Carluke’s Ryan McLellan found Christy Lawlor running through on goal but Vale managed to get a despairing challenge in at the last minute forcing Lawlor to shoot wide.

As halftime approached Vale of Leven were starting to apply a bit more pressure on the Carluke rearguard and it was no surprise when in the 40th minute they extended their lead. A good move down the right saw a cross come into the back post where the Vale of Leven No9 was unmarked and had the easiest of headers to make the score 0-2 at halftime.

The second half started similarly to the first with Vale carving out an opportunity that just went wide and another direct free kick which rattled the Carluke crossbar. However it was to be an innocuous handball in the box that had the referee pointing to the spot for what was a soft penalty. It was duly converted by their No8 to make the score 0-3.

To Carluke’s credit the heads never went down and they kept pushing for a goal. It finally came in the 74th minute in the most bizarre fashion. Tayler Jessimer took a free kick from inside his own half and fired it directly into the box. It managed to go over the heads of everyone and bounced on the penalty spot which took it over the head of the Vale of Leven keeper and into the bottom of the net. 1-3.

Although Carluke nearly got a second in the 85th minute when a corner was headed narrowly wide it was too little, too late and the game finished 1-3 to Vale of Leven.

The good news is that the Manager is working tirelessly to bring in more players to strengthen the squad and we look forward to these additions that will make the team more competitive in what is a difficult division.

Photography by Kevin Ramage