Battling Rovers pull off cup upset

Carluke Rovers battled their way into the fourth round of the Scottish Junior Cup by beating North Super League title favourites Hermes.

In a combative and at times combustible cup tie both teams probed and prodded defensive lines, looking for an early opener, and the visitors created three good scoring chances in the first five minutes.

The first saw a long diagonal ball find a Hermes striker on the penalty spot and his turn and shot ricocheted off the woodwork.

Rovers keeper Dave Cherrie then pulled off a magnificent save as he smothered a netbound shot at the back post.

Seconds later he closed off the angles at his near post to see another shot fly high and wide of the target.

After 15 minutes Rovers seemed to have weathered the storm and a Weir free kick from the right was headed inches wide by Lafferty at the back post.

Two minutes later Weir sent Ross Mcneil clear in on goal but he snatched at his shot, which trundled into the keeper’s hands.

Rovers continued to press forward and just before half-time Lafferty was inches away from opening the scoring as Biggart flashed the ball across the goal line after outsprinting the Hermes right back down the left wing.

Five minutes into the second half Rovers opened the scoring when Biggart outsprinted the right back and squared the ball to Weir.

He shrugged off three players before slipping the ball to Lafferty inside the box, who struck a finely angled shot across the keeper into the net.

The remainder of the half saw both defences on top, with Rovers’ Drew Lindsay twice cutting out dangerous through balls in the dying minutes of the game.