Carluke travelled to Glasgow on the back of two excellent results against Division 4 opponents.

The game against hosts Giffnock had moved from their previous home venue of Eastwood Park to their upgraded facilities at GSC Auldhouse.

The Rovers approached the fixture believing that their opponents would be a tough challenge and considered them to be one of the teams which would be in serious contention for promotion at the end of the campaign.
And a challenge it proved to be.

Giffnock started the game with more energy than their opponents, and in fact had the ball in the back of the net within the first 5 minutes. A well worked move down the left side of the Carluke half culminated in a shot being fired from the byline just inside the Carluke box. Rovers’ keeper, Garry Black, was positioned at his upright and held the chest height shot easily, when an incoming Giffnock player bundled the ball out of the keeper’s hands and into the net. Fortunately, the referee spotted the foul and awarded a free kick to Carluke.

The hosts continued to put pressure on the Rovers goal and at times the Carluke defence were struggling to cope with the pace and movement of their opponents. Giffnock should have opened the scoring on 8 minutes. What should have been a simple pass back to the Rovers keeper was intercepted well inside the box by Giffnock’s Tompkins. Fortunately, the striker failed to take advantage of the mistake, and the ball was bundled out for a corner.

Carluke continued to struggle to get a handle on the game, or their opponents. Their forays into their opponents half failed to put any significant pressure on the Giffnock goal.

On 12 minutes a through ball into the Rovers box was run onto by Giffnock’s Whitelaw. Without any Carluke defender near him on the penalty spot, he only had the keeper to beat. Fortunately, Carluke’s Ben Patterson prevented a certain goal with a remarkable run and last-ditch tackle to clear the danger and put the ball out of play.

The reprieve only lasted a few minutes with Giffnock finding the net on 16 minutes. A ball played across the Carluke box was met by number 9 Tompkins, who put the ball away to open the scoring.
Predictably, losing the goal was the wake up call the visitors needed and they levelled the scoring only a few minutes later. Sustained pressure on the Giffnock goal resulted in the Rovers finding the net for the first time on 19 minutes. A cross from the left side and into a crowded Giffnock box was met by Carluke’s Prentice. His shot was blocked but his teammate Downs pounced on the loose ball and fired it into the back of the Giffnock goal.

Unfortunately for the visitors the goal did not result in any significant change in their control of the game. So, for the rest of the half their opponents continued to pile pressure on the Carluke back line.

Unfortunately for the home side Carluke’s Cassidy was dominating the play in the middle of the park and frequently broke up the Giffnock transitions and was also proving to be effective when moving forward.
Despite their constant pressure the home side could not restore their lead and the first ended all square.

HT Giffnock 1 – 1 Rovers

As in the first half the second half play was dominated early on by Giffnock pressure on their visitor’s defensive line.

However, as the half progressed Carluke began to take more control of the game.

Approaching 60 minutes an attack on the Giffnock box found Rover’s captain Steele in possession. He passed to Mikey Downs who managed to get a shot off, but his effort was saved by the Giffnock stopper.
On 76 minutes the Rovers dominance finally paid off when they scored their second goal.

Strong pressure by the Rovers down the left resulted in a shy in line with the home penalty box. A trademark long throw from Connor Coyle was cleared to the edge of the Giffnock box, where it was picked up by right full back Kyle McAdam. He controlled the clearance and curled a majestic left footed shot past oncoming defenders. The stranded home keeper could only watch as the ball flew past him and into the goal just inside his right-hand post.

Carluke continued to put pressure on the Giffnock goal. Only a few minutes later a series of passes across the home box almost delivered the visitors third goal.
A pass from Carluke striker Stewart out to goal scorer McAdams was fired back towards the Giffnock goal where it struck the back post and rebounded back into play. It was pounced on by Carluke’s Prentice who passed across the box to Downs, but his shot went the wrong side of the Giffnock upright.

As the visitors pressed for a third goal, Coyle received a pass from midfield, he quickly passed it onto Stewart who fired a shot at goal which was blocked and picked up once again by Coyle, but his shot was also blocked and fell to Downs who couldn’t add to his goal tally as his shot narrowly missed past the post.

Both sides failed to make any significant chances in the last ten minutes and the game ended with the Rovers securing the points.

As anticipated it was a hard-fought victory by the Rovers over a talented and hard working Giffnock.

FT Giffnock 1 – 2 Rovers

Our thanks to everyone at Giffnock who were gracious in defeat and, as always, generous with their hospitality.

The Rovers welcome old rivals Newmains to the John Cumming Stadium next Saturday, 9 August at 2pm.

Photography by Kevin Ramage