Today Carluke re visited Tayside following the trip to Tayport to play Midland Premier League Champions Dundee North End in the Scottish Communities Cup aka Scottish Junior Cup. This was going to be a very difficult task for Carluke particularly as North End have a few former senior players in their ranks and are managed by Kevin McNughton who had a successful playing career at Aberdeen.

There could be no excuses though as apart from a strong wind the pitch was in immaculate conditions as were the facilities at their North End Park ground.

The game started with Carluke having the strong wind at their back but rather than being an asset it helped Dundee with their possession and balls threaded through the defence were being held up in the wind for forwards and midfielders to run onto.

The first real chance of the match came in the 11th minute when a good move through the middle found Dundee’s Ryan Paterson free but his shot was brilliantly saved by Eoin Wallace in the Rovers goal down to his left. Then in 20 minutes a great reflex save by Wallace saw him push a deflected shot past the post when it looked like it was just creeping in.

During the first half Dundee North End enjoyed a lot of possession but Carluke’s rearguard action and defending their area restricted them to very few clear cut chances and they went in at halftime level with everything to play for and the game finely poised.

Rovers approached the second half with more confidence, buoyed by their first half performance The second half was only 2 minutes old when Carluke should have taken the lead. Good work in the middle of the park saw Ross Steele get his outstretched foot to the ball inside the six yard box. His effort was not hit with power but it beat the keeper only for the ball to hit the post before being cleared.

One of the plusses for this team is the strength in depth both on and off the pitch. As Carluke were gaining a real foothold in the game it was incisive for manager Dvid Donnelly to give a couple of players who had ran their socks off a break and bring on more quality in the shape of the returning Mark Cassidy and Jamie McIntyre. Both in the middle of the park

Every player in the Rovers team worked their socks off and with no shortage of skill but worth special mention were two players making their first start of the season. Lewis Clark, signed from Gartcairn during the week, was in at right back replacing the injured Connor Coyle. He didn’t put a foot wrong and manged to nullify the threat down the left wing from a dangerous North End attack. The other was Ashton Pellow, who has been out this season with injury, and made a tremendous contribution leading the line and never gave the Dundee defence a moments peace. He capped his contribution off with a great goal in the 69th minute when he beat the offside trap latching on to a perfectly timed Kyle McAdam through ball. He managed to shrug off two Dundee defenders and calmy slotted it past Ross Matthews in Dundee goal.

Having taken the lead it was now about containment for Carluke and this they did admirably. Very rarely was the Rovers goal threatened but when it was Eoin Wallace coped comfortably and had another excellent game today.

However just as everyone was expecting the final whistle North End got a throw in. It was launched into the box and unfortunately came off a Rovers head straight into the path of Ross Jamieson who thundered the ball into the back of the net from six yards out to level the scores amongst scenes of jubilation from the local support.

This was a cruel blow for Carluke Rovers particularly with the goal coming with the very last kick of the ball but credit to the team who knew they were still in it and prepared for penalties.

To a man both sides were very adept at the spot kicks but Carluke had, in the shape of Eoin Wallace a keeper in form who has a great record this season in saving spot kicks. He managed to get to two of the North End penalties which gained him his man of the match performance and saw Carluke through to the next round of the Cup with one of the best results in the Club’s history. Rovers finally running out 4-5 winners on penalties.

After the excitement of today next week it is back to league business with a trip to Glasgow to play St Anthony’s in a game The Rovers will want to win to maintain their position near the top of the league.

Photography by Kevin Ramage