Rovers and out as Cup dream falters
Deflected goal killed us, says Carluke boss Slater
Carluke Rovers .... 2 Gartcairn ............. 3
Scottish Junior Cup replay
Carluke Rovers’ ambitious bid to reach the last eight of the Scottish Cup shuddered to a halt when Gartcairn clinched a fifth-round replay win.
The only junior game to beat the weekend wash-out in Lanarkshire attracted an official attendance of 412, including representatives from several county clubs.
In a fast-flowing match both keepers were put to the test inside the opening minutes as Rovers’ Chick Mccole and Ian Watt, then Gartcairn’s Jordan Love went close.
The breakthrough came in 21 minutes when central defender Kevin Ross cashed in on a goalmouth melee to head Gartcairn in front at the John Cumming Stadium. Mccole and Watt again went close, before Watt headed in a Mark Weir free-kick to level in 28 minutes, but five minutes before the break Mark Paton gave the visitors a 2-1 lead.
Two minutes after the restart the game was effectively over as a contest when Neil Tait whipped in a cross that came off the head of left-back Gerry Gow and sailed over keeper Dan Tobin and into the net.
Carluke created a number of good chances, but missed the target on several occasions to get back into the tie.
Alberto Vezza, Garry Gow, Mark Weir, Greg Fernie and Chas Mccole were off the mark with their efforts.
Finally, Vezza fired in a 25-yarder on 75 minutes to give hope of salvaging the tie but it was not to be.
The result ended Carluke’s ninegame unbeaten run in the league and cup.
Manager Colin Slater said: “I feel gutted because we have missed a great chance to be in the quarterfinal. In the first half we lost a couple of sloppy goals but, at 2-1, I thought the game was still ours for the taking – but a couple of minutes into the second half we lost another sloppy goal.
“They slung a hopeful ball into a busy penalty box, which hit Garry Gow on the head and it floated over Dan Tobin’s head and into the corner. That deflection killed it.
“We then had to chase the game but it wasn’t our day.
“I thought we bossed the second half but missed a load of chances and their goalkeeper had quite a few last-gasp saves when he threw himself at the ball – but that’s what he’s there for.”
He added: “I want to wish Gartcairn good luck in the next round.”
Gartcairn boss Davie Greig, who took Blantyre Vics to the Central League Second Division title, said: “We had a game-plan, we stuck to it, it went well, and we scored some good goals.”