Today Carluke were on the road to visit local rivals Larkhall Thistle. Manager Paul Davies had his work cut out with several players out with injuries or on holiday. The match was to prove as difficult for Carluke as it was to get there with the roadworks at Garrion Bridge.
Larkhall were sitting proudly at the top of the Division and were looking to maintain their recent run of good form. Likewise Carluke are starting to put together a run of results and were keen to continue climbing the table.

The game started quietly enough and it took till the 10th minute for the first chance to be carved out. A ball was crossed to the Carluke back post and was met by the head of the Larkhall No9 whose effort was parried to safety by Josh McGill in the Carluke goal.

Then in 19 minutes Carluke carved out their own first opportunity when Josh Bell cut the ball back from the byeline across the Larkhall goal but there were no takers for Carluke.

The opening goal came in the 23rd minute when a cross from the left found Taylor Scott who won his tussle with Carluke left back Kieran Evans then firing the ball across keeper McGill into the far corner to make the score 1-0 to Larkhall. This put a spring in the step of Larkhall and they created another chance in 24th minute when a cross from the right was headed back across goal to find the head of the Larkhall striker but his effort was wide of the goal.

Carluke were well in the match however at this stage but the next 5 minutes were to prove pivotal in determining the outcome of the match. Firstly Larkhall snatched their second when another cross from the right was well saved by McGill but the ball fell to the feet of the Larkhall No10 and he knocked it over the line to make it 2-0.

If this was not bad enough Carluke were then reduced to 10 men when industrious striker Josh Bell was sent off for a second bookable offence. His first booking had been for diving according to the Ref and the second was for a raised foot. A very harsh decision by the Referee so early in the match.

The game now became more about containment for Carluke as they let Larkhall have the ball in their own half whilst hoping to hit them on the break when the opportunity arose. The managed this situation well and went in at halftime 2-0 down.

The second half got underway and Larkhall were straight on the front foot. It only took them 4 minutes to get their third and effectively end the game as a contest. A corner was cleared to the edge of the Carluke box but only found the feet of Ballantyne. He flicked the ball up and hit an unstoppable volley over the head of Josh McGill to make it 3-0.

To their credit Carluke kept plugging away and in the 68th minute they nearly got a goal back. Greg Kane slotted a pass through to fellow midfielder Gregg Miller who then beat his man then unleashed a 25 yard shot which the Larkhall keeper miraculously palmed onto the post and then cleared to safety.

However in the 72nd minute Carluke’s bad luck on the day took one last turn when a long ball out of defence found a Larkhall player who was clearly offside. The Ref allowed play to continue and the resultant effort was well saved by McGill but the rebound fell to the feet of the Larkhall No22 who tucked it away. 4-0 to Larkhall.

Carluke continued to make every effort despite the fact they only had 10 men for the majority of this match and their tenacity was rewarded in the 85th minute when Mark O’Reilly was pulled down in the box for a penalty.

The same player stood up to take the kick but was saved by the keeper as was the resultant effort when it was parried back to the kicker. This just summed up Carluke’s day and it was with some relief that the Ref ended the game with the final score 4-0 to Larkhall.

Westcoast Storage and Removal Limited
Rovers Man of the Match
Greg Kane

Photography by Kevin Ramage