Carluke Rovers bowed out of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup at the first-round stage after a clinical Gretna 2008 side left the John Cumming Stadium with a 4–0 victory. This was the first time the First round of the Scottish Cup had come to Carluke and a healthy local support turned out to back the team.

The opening 55 minutes were evenly contested, with both sides struggling to create clear chances in a tight and cagey affair. At half-time, the scoreline fairly reflected the balance of play at 0–0.

The breakthrough came shortly after the restart when Gretna’s Stuart Douglas bundled the ball over the line from a corner.

Rovers had a golden opportunity to respond 10 minutes later when awarded a penalty, but Nicky Prentice’s effort was saved by the Gretna goalkeeper, who dived low to his left.

Carluke pressed hard for an equaliser and came close on 63 minutes when neat work on the right wing allowed Prentice to flick the ball into the path of Ross Steele, but his strike sailed over the bar.

Those missed opportunities proved costly. Gretna doubled their lead on 67 minutes when Sam Atkinson’s effort from inside the box squeezed past the Rovers’ keeper. Atkinson struck again soon after with a superb 25-yard drive that flew beyond Garry Black into the side netting to make it 3–0.

Deep into stoppage time, Atkinson completed his hat-trick in unusual fashion. A long-range free-kick was misjudged in the swirling wind by Black, who got fingertips to the ball but couldn’t prevent it from finding the net.

The final whistle confirmed a 4–0 win for Gretna, with Atkinson’s late flurry sealing the tie and ending Rovers’ Scottish Cup hopes for another season.

The scoreline flattered Gretna FC to a degree in what was a pretty even game but it’s on to the next tie for Carluke Rovers who welcome St Rochs to the John Cumming Stadium next Saturday in a West of Scotland cup tie.

Photography by Kevin Ramage