ROVERS 3 CARLOWAY 9
On Monday night, Carloway came to town and literally went to town on Rovers to win a place in the semi-finals of the Jock Stein Cup against Athletic. They took an early lead when Neil 'Spike' Maciver jinked to the line and Iain 'Mac' Maclean supplied the finish with only four minutes on the clock.
Rovers countered with good runs by Doug McManus and Norman 'Balloch' Morrison followed by a nice touch by Eric Macdonald which set himself up for a left-foot drive which Angie Maciver parried over. Carloway's second arrived when Kenny 'Cloudy' retrieved a ball he should have left out on the flank which let 'Mac' Maclean intercept and his cross was netted in an almighty scramble at the far post by Angie Macdonald with 16 minutes gone. It was 'Mac' Maclean who scored again three minutes later with another untidy close-in effort that could have been cleared. More intricate play by Maclean and Angie Macdonald against four defenders saw the former hit the post and the rebound just missed the latter as he rushed in as Carloway continued to impress.
Rovers stopped the one-way traffic with a fine Donnie Macdonald ball upfield to McManus who centred but 'Balloch' Morrison's shot went straight at Maciver in goal. Iain 'Mac' Maclean continued his devastating start by shooting narrowly wide from a clever Calum Morrison back-heel, but he was not to be denied seconds later when he burst through at speed and clipped over the advancing Geordie Morrison for his hat-trick on the 32 minute mark.
Norman 'Balloch' Morrison neatly got round Maciver after this but it was he who headed Rovers back into contention in 40 minutes from a left wing cross by Doug McManus. Murdo Maciver had shown his prowess in the air up to this point but he had to go off injured and was replaced by Angus Morrison. The half ended with another fine McManus cross being met by Roddie Macleod but Maciver saved.
The second half started in a flurry of activity following a superb dipper from Iain 'Mac' Maclean from 25 yards only a minute after the kick-off to brign him his fourth and make the score 5-1. In 50 minuted referee Kenny Macpherson pointed to the spot and Donnie Macdonald netted the penalty easily to make it 5-2, but before Rovers could think of a comeback it was 6-2 when Neil 'Spike' Maciver tore down the whole right flank before centring and an immaculate glancing header from 'Mac' Maclean crept inside the far post. In 52 minutes the third goal in as many minutes came when the tall Angus Morrison headed in a free-kick at the edge of the box to make it 7-2. Bobby Brady came close at a free-kick five minutes later and at this juncture Rovers brought on Lewis 'Quinn' Macleod for Roddie Macleod.
Willie 'Brochan' Macdonald was close to getting a goal for Rovers after going through two men but was blocked as he shot. After Carloway had an offside goal chalked off Lewis 'Quinn' Macleod netted in 65 minutes with a shot which took a definite deflection off a defender before looping up and then dropping in at the junction.
Now that Rovers had a third goal the Carloway side immediately hit back in 66 minutes with Kenny Macaulay nettign coolly after coming on for Robert Paterson who had a quietly impressive game. Just after 'Balloch' Morrison missed a chance with only the 'keeper to beat. Angie Macdonald netted his second and Carloway led 9-3 with 20 minutes left.
No further goals ensued despite chances but Rovers had effected changes which saw their full-backs thrown upfield and Kenny 'cloudy' Macleod was most impressive in this role. Rovers had a match they would obviously want to forget although one must mention Doug McManus as having a good game. They failed to cope with Maciver and Macdonald's wing play plus 'Mac' Maclean's incisive thrusts, but Carloway can be happy on all counts with no failures on the field. A team who can enjoy the luxury of a full-back such as Derick Maclennan, when he looks so good going forward, must be able to score goals and on this occasion they proved they can afford it.