It was the turn of Finnart to visit the John Cumming Stadium in this West of Scotland League game. Carluke were looking to avenge a 3-0 defeat in the first meeting of the two teams earlier in the season.

Carluke also welcomed back Greg Miller from suspension and it was a home debut for new signing William McGlone.

The game kicked off in bright sunshine with Carluke hitting with what little breeze there was. It was the home side who had the first real effort when Greg Miller made a strong challenge on the right wing to win the ball. He followed this up with a cross into the box where Dom Small was lurking. However the Finnart keeper managed to smother his effort in front of goal.

Then it was Finnart’s turn to go close when a direct free kick in the 12th minute went just past the post of Josh McGill.

As the half wore on Finnart were seeing plenty of the ball but without really threatening the Carluke rearguard with Barry Fraser looking comfortable at centre half.

In fact it took until the 40th minute for another effort on either goal and it resulted in Carluke taking the lead. A precise Christy Lawlor corner eluded a couple of defenders in the heart of the Finnart defence only to find William McGlone ghosting in at the backpost to bullet a header into the net from about 6 yards out. 1-0 to Carluke.

Then just before halftime Finnart had their first real chance when their No11 had a shot well saved by Josh McGill in the Carluke goal.

The second half got underway with Carluke knowing they would have to defend resolutely to protect their lead and this they did for the most part with Finnart creating very little in the way of clear cut chances.

In fact it was Carluke who were to extend their lead. A super crossfield pass found Christy Lawlor on the right just over the halfway line. The fullback moved forward with the ball unchallenged. He then unleashed a shot from 25 yards into the back of the net past the despairing arms of the Finnart goalkeeper.

2-0 to Carluke.

Finnart were not done however and continued to try and find a way back into the match. In the 66th minute they nearly did when a ball crossed in from the right was narrowly headed wide by the Finnart No2. With defences on top it looked as if Carluke would settle for the lead they had but in 78 minutes they put the game beyond Finnart.

Dom Small collected the ball on the left and cut inside beating his man and creating enough space to get his shot off. The Finnart keeper dived to his right and got a hand to it but he couldn’t keep it out and Carluke were now 3-0 up with just over 10 minutes to go.

Alhough Finnart kept plugging away the game was over and Carluke saw it out to the final whistle without any difficulty and securing a clean sheet.

This was a good result for Carluke against a competent Finnart side and went some way to make up for the disappointing defeat the previous week.

Final score Carluke Rovers 3 Finnart 0.

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Rovers Man of the Match
Greg Miller