Carluke Rovers made the short trip to Newmains tonight to play their penultimate WOSFL league game. Rovers were hoping to continue their recent good with away wins but Newmains are always a tough assignment.

The pitch was in its best condition but with the recent dry weather it was very firm and rutted which was not conducive to attractive football played on the ground. The game got underway with Newmains playing with the wind in their favour in the first half.

The first chance of the match fell to Carluke when Jacob MacEachen swivelled on the edge of the box but Cherrie in the Newmains goal got down well to his left to push it round the post. Then in 16 minutes Carluke should have taken the lead. Good work by Ben Rennie down the left wing saw him slide the ball through to Kyle McAdam. The midfielder was through on goal but slid his side foot shot just past the far post with the Keeper to beat.

Carluke were to rue their missed opportunities when in the 28th minute a long throw into the box was not cleared and in the commotion Mackenzie Shields got a shot away from close range to give Newmains the lead 1-0.

This was to be the last of the action of what had been an uninspiring first half with the ball spending most of the time in the air with Newmains holding aa slender lead.

The second half got underway with Carluke hoping to get a leveler early. It nearly came in the 55th minute when a long throw by Connor Coyle was cleared to the edge of the Newmains box only to find Jacob Maceachan. The striker’s shot however just looped over the bar. Then a few minutes later another Coyle long throw into the box was met with a glancing header from Mikey Downs but his effort went just past the far post.

Then Newmains got corner in the 67th minute. It was drilled in low but everyone missed except Jack McLaughlin at the backpost unmarked. His first time effort managed to cross the line to make the score 2-0 to Newmains and Carluke with mountain to climb to get back into the game.

Fortunately for Carluke the squad has strength in depth and manager Thomas Devine had good experience and quality on the bench. He chose his moment to introduce some of these players to the fray to get a goal which could turn their fortunes. It was one of these players’ who got Carluke back into the match when in 72 minutes Chris Owen was first to react to a corner swung in from the right and bulleted a header into the net to make the score 2-1.

Carluke were now chasing the equaliser and it duly came in the 83rd minute. A long clearance by Gregor Knight in the Rovers goal was missed by everyone except Mikey Downs who anticipated the flight of the ball and collected it leaving himself through on goal. The striker coolly picked his spot in the bottom corner as the Keeper came to meet him and Carluke were now level.

There was now a renewed urgency in the Carluke ranks to go on and get a winner in the few minutes left remaining. However this “all guns blazing” approach left them exposed at the back and they were to be undone only 3 minutes later. A direct freekick was well blocked by the wall but the ball broke to Newmains Jay Miller and he fired it into the back of the net to make the score 3-2 for Newmains much to the relief of the home dugout.

This goal was further compounded in the dying embers of the game when a poor clearance was returned with interest and although the shot was parried by Knight in the Carluke goal Mackenzie Shields was on hand to net the rebound finishing the game as contest with a 4-2 lead from the home side.

This was to be the last kick of the game as the Ref blew the whistle for full time. A disappointing night for The Rovers but they can take heart from what has been a great second half of the season. They will hope to sign off with a win this Saturday against bottom side BSC from Glasgow at the John Cumming Stadium.

Photography by Kevin Ramage