Match Report
Carluke Rovers welcomed East Kilbride Thistle to the John Cumming Stadium for this West of Scotland League game. Although there was a cold breeze sweeping the stadium the conditions were ideal for a game of football. Both teams were looking for a win to try and escape the threat of relegation.
It was East Kilbride who started the quicker and created a couple of half chances before their got their opener in the 12th minute. A shot from just outside the box and was saved onto the post by Rovers keeper Josh McGill but the ball broke back in front of goal and he made another good save from point blank range but he couldn’t stop the third effort which was rifled into the roof of the net. 0-1 to East Kilbride.
At this stage East Kilbride were controlling most of the possession but Carluke were starting to make headway into their box. In the 20th minute Christy Lawlor won the ball out on the wing and passed it inside to Connor McKenzie. He curled a shot from 20 yards which just went past the East Kilbride far post.
It was a game that was to go from one end to the other with monotonous regularity and East Kilbride should have increased their lead on 26 minutes when a cross from the left was side footed over the bar from 6 yards with the Carluke goal gaping.
Chances were being created at both ends but as the first half was drawing to a close East Kilbride doubled their advantage. A freekick was awarded to them 25 yards from goal. Their No12 took the kick which eluded the wall and found the bottom corner past the despairing arms of McGill in the Carluke goal. A body blow to Carluke just before halftime.0-2.
Carluke needed a fast start to the second half to get back into the game and that was exactly what they got. Within 10 minutes of the re start they were amazingly back on level terms when the Referee awarded 2 penalties. Both penalties were for fouls on Connor McKenzie. The first was dispatched by Connor himself and the second by midfielder Greg Miller. 2-2.
The game settled down at this point and went through a bit of a lull for 15 minutes but then in the 72nd minute East Kilbride took the lead again. A cleverly taken free kick was passed to the side of the Carluke wall to the East Kilbride No8 who controlled it and curled a lovely shot past McGill in the Carluke goal. 2-3. Within a further 2 minutes Carluke found themselves back where they started the second half, 2 goals behind. A move down the left by East Kilbride saw the ball crossed to the back post and knocked back into the middle where their No11 was unmarked and had the easiest of goals to make it 2-4.
There looked to be no way back for Carluke with only 15 minutes left to play but to their credit they kept pressing and in 84th minute they got one back. Good work by Josh Bell on the right enabled him to feed the ball into Connor McKenzie. The striker, with his back to goal, managed to the turn the defender and reversed the ball into the bottom right corner with the East Kilbride keeper rooted to the spot. 3-4.
It was at this point East Kilbride imploded with 2 players being sent off in quick succession. The first one was for a second booking and the other a straight red for a homophobic comment directed at one of his own players. Carluke had only a few minutes left to capitalize and this they did in the 90th minute. The ball found it’s way to Mark O’Reilly on the right wing and he found space and time to square the ball into Connor McKenzie on the edge of the six yard box and he dispatched the ball into the empty net to complete a brilliant hat trick and secure a valuable point for Carluke Rovers. Final score 4-4.
Match Report by Stevie Kane
Westcoast Storage and Removal Limited
Rovers Man of the Match
Connor McKenzie
Photography by Kevin Ramage