It was an away game today for Carluke Rovers following several games being played at home. The opponent in this West of Scotland league match were St Peters FC who play out Renfrew FC’s home ground. St Peters are several places above Carluke in the league but the recent form of the Rovers has been improving and there was a confidence that a victory was a real possibility in this match.

That said the game got underway and it was St Peters who looked the hungrier. They were zipping the ball about and pressurising Carluke players when they had the ball. The hosts nearly took the lead when the ball found it’s way to Max Devine on the left and his well struck shot whistled across the goal and just past the far post. Then in the fifth minute a St Peters corner was headed goalward but was cleared off the line.

With this early pressure it seemed a matter of time before the home club got an opener and it came in the 12th minute. Slack play in the middle of the park by Carluke saw a pass intercepted by Lewis Kenmore. The midfielder collected the ball and ran through shooting from 18 yards and giving Josh McIntyre in the Rovers goal no chance as the ball nestled in the back of the net. 1-0 to St Peters.

The game settled down after this goal and there was not much between the teams but Carluke were still finding it difficult to create a chance from open play. In fact it was from a corner in the 24th minute on the left that was to be the undoing of St Peters. The ball was flighted in beautifully by Connor McQueen and it was met unchallenged by Olly Grenfell in the middle of the six yard box. His powerful header was never going to be stopped and Carluke had got themselves back on level terms at 1-1.

Both teams were now playing at a similar level and cancelling each other out but in the 33rd minute it took an excellent diving save by Carluke’s Josh McIntyre low, down to his right to palm away a net bound shot by St Peter’s Hasid Ahmed from about 25 yards.

In 35 minutes Carluke nearly helped St Peters to their second goal with a carbon copy misplaced pass in the middle of their own half. This time the resultant shot by Max Devine was again well saved by McIntyre. This time down to his left. As it turned out it was Carluke who were to take the lead in the 43rd minute with a copy of their own first goal. A corner by McQueen was met by an unmarked Olly Grenfell on the six yard line and he bulleted his header into the back of the net for his and Carluke’s second goal. This was to end the scoring in the first half and the teams went in with Carluke holding a narrow 2-1 lead.

The second half got underway with Carluke determined to keep it tight at the back to protect their lead but they were to suffer an early setback when an unnecessary free kick was given away close to the corner flag on their right. McIntyre placed his wall but the resultant shot hit the wall and was deflected in at the near post with the half only 2 minutes old. Again their was parity between the teams at 2-2.
 
There was not much to separate the teams but on the hour mark the Carluke Manager, Thomas Devine starting to make changes to the personnel and bring on fresh legs and this made a difference to Carluke’s general play and urgency. However it was two of the starting line up who were to fashion Carluke’s third. A great through ball by Mikey Downs found his striking partner Jay McInally who had timed his run perfectly to beat the offside. He got to just inside the St Peters box and unleashed a shot into the far side netting to give Carluke the lead again at 3-2 after 69 minutes.

The Rovers were more comfortable now but knew they couldn’t relax as St Peters were not letting up. However St Peters were to plot their own downfall when a misplaced back pass from near the corner flag went straight to Mikey Downs and the big striker had the easiest of goals as he knocked it over the line to make the score 4-2 and give Rovers the breathing space they needed.

At this point the game was effectively over but Carluke had another good opportunity when Connor McQueens effort was saved by the feet of Bett in the St Peters goal. The scoring wasn’t over yet and with effectively the last kick of the ball Rovers added a fifth. Again, as with the previous goal, an error in the St Peters defence found James Dunlop of Carluke at the edge of the box. His shot was touched by the St Peters goalie but he couldn’t stop it nestling in the bottom of the net. Final Score 2-5.

This was not a brilliant performance by the Rovers but they got the victory that they needed which is a good sign. They will need to be a whole lot better however next Saturday when the take on high flying Premier outfit Drumchapel United in the third round of the West of Scotland Cup at The John Cumming Stadium.

Photography by Kevin Ramage