It was the turn of Irvine Victoria to visit the John Cumming Stadium in this West of Scotland League game. Vics have had an indifferent season to date and Carluke viewed this as a potential win to help their season.

Carluke continue to suffer from injuries to a couple of key players but still fielded a strong team capable of getting a result in this game. It was a game that would be influenced by the strong wind blowing down the park and Carluke had it at their back in the first half.

Carluke almost took the lead in the first minute when the ball broke to Brandon McKenzie on the right wing but his shot from a tight angle was parried by McCallum in the Vics goal for a corner.

The first 15 minutes were pretty even with neither keeper really troubled until Carluke needlessly gave away a direct freekick from 25 yards. It was taken by the Vics No8 and his shot was deflected by the wall, wrong footing McGill in the Carluke goal with the ball nestling in the bottom of the net.1-0 to Irvine Vics.

Within a couple of minutes Carluke had a similar opportunity at the other end although this time the freekick was at the edge of the box. Unfortunately Kieran Evan’s effort slid past the near post.

Irvine were using the wind in their face to their advantage putting the ball over the top and turning the Carluke defence. However their second goal came from a corner that Carluke failed to clear in their penalty box and it was finally turned in by the Vics No7 to make it 0-2 to Irvine Vics.

Then to compound Carluke’s poor first half showing another error at the back allowed the Vics No9 to sneak in and slide the ball under Josh McGill, on the stroke of halftime, to make the interval score 0-3.

The second half started with Rovers Manager, Paul Davies making a couple of changes from the outset to try and change the course of the match. It was going to be difficult hitting into the wind and it was made almost impossible after just a minute of the re start. A looping ball in from the right wing evaded everyone in the Carluke box and found it’s way into the back of the net. 0-4.

This was a real body blow to Carluke but to their credit they rolled up their sleeves and made an effort to get something back for the remainder of the game.

Carluke began to play with a bit more menace and matched their opponents. There was a chance or two at both ends but the last score of the match was a beauty from Carluke. Christy Lawlor got the ball on the right and cut in beating a couple of men before laying the ball off to Reece Whittingham. Whittingham took one step forward and unleashed a 25 yarder which whistled into the top corner to make the score 1-4 with 12 minutes to play.

Vics were happy to see the game out at this point and for all their efforts Carluke didn’t really threaten the Vics goal in the final minutes.

Although the second half was 1-1 Carluke will be very disappointed with their first half showing that gave them too big a mountain to climb after the break.

Next week the Rovers face Girvan at home in what is now a “must win game” if they are to have any chance of getting themselves out of the relegation zone. The kickoff at the John Cumming Stadium will be 1:30pm.

Westcoast Storage and Removal Limited
Rovers Man of the Match
Christy Lawlor

Photography by Kevin Ramage