Today Carluke welcomed league leaders Ardrossan Winton Rovers to the John Cumming Stadium for this West of Scotland League match.

This was never going to be an easy afternoon for Carluke and it was made all the harder in the first half as they played into the wind with the sun in their eyes. Unfortunately, this proved to be the case and within the first 12 minutes Carluke found themselves 2-0 down. Both goals could have been avoided with the first being bundled over the line from a chipped cross from the right by the Ardrossan No19. The second goal had a similar feel to it as again a cross was allowed in from the right and this time it was the turn of the Ardrossan No3 to coax the ball over the line. 0-2 to Ardrossan.

At this stage the Rovers feared the worst and they struggled throughout the first half with slack passing and poor control. In fact they were very fortunate not to concede again in the first half and had to thank Josh McGill in the Carluke goal for keeping the score at just 2.

Having kept the score at only 0-2 Carluke were not out of it and started the second half with the wind and sun at their back. The hope being the conditions would help them as it had Ardrossan in the first half.

However the first effort on goal was from Ardrossan when in the first minute after the break their No19 found space but his shot was well saved by McGill in the Carluke goal.

Carluke were starting to show a bit more urgency in their play and in the 51st minute had their first real attempt on goal. A good run by Christy Lawlor on the left saw him cut inside but his shot was saved by the feet of the Ardrossan Keeper.

This was a warning that Ardrossan did not heed and in the 54th minute Carluke got a goal back. A great through ball by Connor McKenzie found Christy Lawlor clear in on goal. His first shot was well saved by the keeper but the striker tucked the rebound into the back of the net to make it 1-2.

This goal buoyed Carluke and remarkably they got the equaliser only 3 minutes later. A corner from the left was knocked I the air at the edge of the 6 yard box and Carluke centre half, Barry Fraser was first to react and nodded home from close range to make the score
2-2.

Carluke tails were up at this point and they nearly took the lead when a cross from Lawlor was headed over by McKenzie. They were to rue this missed opportunity as Ardrossan proceed to knock the ball long and their big No19 striker won his tussle with the Rovers defender and slotted the ball past McGill to make it 2-3 to Ardrossan. Unbelievably Carluke were to lose a similar 2 goals in the next 2 minutes getting caught out at the back and within 3 minutes Ardrossan had extended their half time lead from two to three goals. Incredibly in the space of 3 minutes the score had went from 2-2 to 2-5 in favour of Ardrossan and the game was effectively over.

A shell shocked Rovers trudged off at the end disappointed that they had let the game slip so badly having worked hard to get back to into it but the team continue to move in the right direction and just need a victory to boost confidence and start climbing the league.

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