Rob Roy 6 Carluke 0: Rabs through thanks to first half blitz

In a repeat of their first round tie against Glenrothes, five goals by half-time had the match finished although on this occasion Stewart Maxwell’s side did add sixth in the second half..

The match started with a minute’s silence in memory of Jim Fleming, centre-forward of the 1962 Cup winning team, who died earlier this month.

The visitors began brightly and in the second minute Greg Kane shot wide from a Mark Weir corner.

At the other end a Willie Sawyers shot drifted past, but the breakthrough wasn’t long in coming - in the 10th minute Kevin Watt was on hand to turn the ball home after a Jordan McGuire header came off the post.

The Central Second Division side responded and a minute later Gary McMenamin did well to clear from Kane.

But the Roy were starting to dominate, despite some reckless tackles from Rovers’ Mark Haddow and Weir.

Watt shot over the bar after good work between McGuire and Scott Walker, but on 13 minutes Watt made no mistake from close range to double the lead.

This led to a period of all out attack from the Roy. Gallacher’s effort was cleared off the line and Watt was unlucky not to hit the target from inside the six-yard box.

However the home side increased their lead in the 22nd minute when Danny Mackenzie stole in at the back post to delightfully guide a header past keeper David Thomson.

Efforts from Sawyers and Gary McCulloch went over the bar as Rob Roy looked for more goals and the fourth came in the 32nd minute when Willie Sawyers netted from a tight angle after good lead up play between Mackenzie and Watt.

Sawyers came close again three minutes later with an effort cleared off the line.

However Sawyers wasn’t to be denied in the 42nd minute when he scored the fifth goal from a cross from the right after Walker and Gallacher combined.

Joe Slattery went close with a low shot before Rob Roy headed in for the half time break well in front.

The second half had a similar start to the first with Carluke on the attack and Mark Cassidy had an effort that went wide. Soon after Slattery had a shot over the bar from 16 yards and then Carluke’s Aldin El Zubaidi did well to clear from Gallacher.

However the Roy increased their lead in the 56th minute when John Renwick was penalised for a blatant pull on Slattery and Watt made no mistake from the spot to complete his hat-trick.

The game was by then was well over and the rest of the tie was more like a training match as Rob Roy eased through the remaining minutes.

Substitute Gavin Mackie went close with a free kick that scraped Thomson’s right hand post but there was little action in the final minutes as both teams settled for the result.

Sponsor Norrie McNab presented the Supporters’ man of the Match trophy, kindly donated by Roddy the Dog Walker, to Kevin Watt.