Carluke travelled to local rivals Lesmahagow in this West of Scotland league game. It was going to be a difficult afternoon for all involved with a sodden pitch and the undulating surface that Craighead Park is synonymous with.

Carluke played up the hill in the first half and settled into the game quite quickly. Lesmahagow though had a little more of the play and used the slope to their advantage.

The first real chance came in the 9th minute when the Gow No 9 cut in from the left and curled a great shot which was heading for the top corner until a brilliant one handed save by McGill in the Carluke goal managed to push the ball over the bar. Then from the resultant corner McGill pulled off another wonderful save when he again managed to put the ball over the bar this time from a thunderous shot from the Lesmahagow No8.

At these early stages of the match Lesmahagow were in the ascendancy and deservedly took the lead in the 19th minute. A soft freekick was given away just outside the box and was taken by Lesmahagow’s Kyle Weir. His resultant effort evaded the wall and found it’s way into the bottom right corner giving the Rovers Keeper no chance. 1-0 to Lesmahagow.

This goal lifted Lesmahagow and they created another couple of chances but in both case the No10 put his efforts narrowly wide and then over the bar. However as the half wore on Carluke were giving as good as they got and in the 28th minute Mark O’Reilly was put through but the Gow keeper was alert enough to get off his line to smother the resultant effort by the midfielder.

Then on the stroke of halftime Carluke striker Stephen Gemmill hit a shot that cannoned of the post and was kicked to safety bringing and end to the first half with the Gow leading 1-0.

The second half got underway with Carluke hitting down the slope but in what turned out to be an evenly contested half it was Lesmhagow who were to get the breakthrough in the 65th minute. A quick one two on the edge of the Carluke box saw the ball at the feet of the Gow No10 and when challenged he went to ground and the penalty was awarded. The resultant kick was driven low to the keeper’s right by Woodlock to make the score 2-0 to the Gow.

If this wasn’t bad enough the game was effectively ended as a contest 3 minutes later when Gow midfielder McGuire swiveled inside the box and shot past McGill in the Carluke goal to make the score 3-0.

The scoreline flattered Lesmahagow as the game was a fairly even affair particularly in the second half and to Carluke’s credit they kept looking for an opening. It nearly came in the 80th minute when a shot by Christy Lawlor was parried away for a corner by the Lesmahagow goalkeeper.

This turned out to be the last real action of the half and Lesmahagow ran out 3-0 winners. Next week Carluke have an equally difficult task when they are on their travels again to visit local rivals Lanark United.

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Rovers Man of the Match
Dominic Small

Photography by Kevin Ramage