Carluke travelled down the M74 today cutting across country at Douglas and into the Ayrshire village of Kirkconnell home of Kello Rovers. This was the first meeting of the clubs for several seasons and had not been a particularly happy hunting ground for Carluke in the past.

This was their first home game of the season and as such the grass pitch was in excellent condition albeit the grass slightly longer than necessary.

The game kicked off with Kello having the advantage of the breeze at their back and they knocked the ball confidently about at the back with their fullbacks getting forward at every opportunity. That said they never really threatened Eoin Wallace in the Carluke goal. In fact it was Carluke who had the two best chances, the first coming in the 6th minute. Good play down the left saw the ball fed into Ross Steele but his well struck shot was right at Morgan Stirling in the Kelllo goal which he held on to well. It was the same player on the half hour who had another similar opportunity and unfortunately for him with the same outcome.

The Carluke midfield were working very hard to contain their counterparts and when they did get past the Rovers defence proved more than able to further limit their attempts on goal to virtually none. The defence has further been strengthened with the signing of local lad Andrew Arnott who has slotted in brilliantly at left back in only his second full match.

Unfortunately for Carluke they lost concentration for just a second in the 39th minute when a freekick inside Carluke’s half on the right was met at the back post by centre half Aiden Lang and his header went in under the bar despite the best efforts of Eoin Wallace in the Carluke goal. 1-0 to Kello. This was to be the last of the meaningful action in the first half.

The second half got underway with Carluke now having the advantage of the breeze but in truth it had no impact on the outcome of the game as Carluke Rovers dominated the half from start to finish. Kyle McAdam, Ross Steele and Jamie McIntyre worked tirelessly in the midfield with no shortage of skill to compliment this and it was no more than Carluke deserved when the equaliser came in the 54th minute. A cross from the left was met at the backpost by Jay Keenan and his bullet header went into the top corner to make the score in the 54th minute 1-1.

This was all the impetus Carluke needed and the second goal was not long in coming after further good work down the left wing the ball was squared in by Dylan Watt behind a couple of despairing Kello legs to the feet of Ross Steele and the Rovers captain had no trouble in firing the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-2 to Carluke just after the hour.

It took only another 5 minutes for Carluke to seal the points when another trademark 25 yard freekick from Jamie McIntyre flew into the top corner with the Kello Keeper stranded on his line. This was the killer goal and no more than Carluke deserved for their second half display till that point. However to their credit Carluke did not let up and they continued to search for more goals. Ironically it was almost directly from a Kyle McAdam corner that Rovers got their fourth. The midfielder, who put in a man of the match performance, curled in the corner which was net bound before it was knocked into his own goal by the unfortunate Tristan Stirling to make the score 1-4 to Carluke.

This effectively ended the game as a contest and Carluke were well deserving of their victory. Apart from their goal Kello Rovers never tested Eoin Wallace in the Carluke goal and this was also partly due to a defence who contributed a great deal to thwarting the opposition strikers and giving Carluke’s midfield the platform from which to build.

Next Saturday it is another away day this to Saltcoats Victoria where another difficult game lies in wat but on this display, and the start of the season in general, Carluke Rovers need fear no one in the Division.
 

Photography by Kevin Ramage