Watt and Cassidy strikes earn 2-1 home win for Carluke Rovers who go second

Rovers earned a 2-1 home victory over Ashfield, which started with prolific forward Ian Watt shooting wildly over and then having a parting shot well saved.

But the hosts did break the deadlock on 29 minutes when a brilliant Mark Weir pass saw Watt allow the ball to drop over his shoulder before bearing down on the Ashfield goal and a great volley flew high in to the net for 1-0.

Carluke were well on top and almost snatched a second goal but Watt’s shot was blocked away for a corner. This was played in by Weir and ended up with a Mark Haddow shot that was also blocked.

The home side did however double their lead before half-time. A well played ball by Reece Lowdon found Mark Cassidy on the right and he cut into the opposition penalty area before unleashing an excellent low drive that flew in to the visitors’ net.

Rovers also started the second half quickly and Mark Cassidy had a shot blocked before Greg Kane sent the follow-up effort over the bar.

Rovers suffered a blow with 10 minutes remaining when Mark Haddow went off injured.

With the big midfielder absent, this allowed the Ashfield centre forward to win a header that scraped the bar and just crossed the line before Thomson scrambled it away to make the score 2-1.

This produced a nervy few minutes for Carluke as they looked to hold on to their lead but they continued to give away cheap free-kicks and from one of these Ashfield looked to have equalised when their number nine again headed home but this effort in stoppage time was ruled out for offside.

There was late drama when Kane then went on a chase for the ball with the visiting keeper, who brought him down and earned a red card in the process.