08/05/08 Vale of Leithen 4-1 Gala Fairydean
After the high of Tuesday, it was the low of Thursday as Vale crashed back to earth with defeat against local rivals Fairydean in a Tyreman East of Scotland League clash. Known for being something of a controversial fixture, the controversy started before the game, as referee Andy Rooney ruled that the black and white stripes of Gala clashed with Vale's navy blue, hence Fairydean lined up for the match clad in Vale's all-red away strips. Perhaps this had fired the visitors up, because they made by far the better start to the game, and took the lead after 37 minutes through Jamie Gibson. They added another three minutes before half time when some Vale defensive calamity saw an attempted clearance by Ross McManus canon off Raymond Fleming into the path of Jay Wilson, who quickly dispatched the ball home. It looked like a Vale rivival maight be under way as Aaron Somerville grabbed a goal back for the Innerleithen side twelve minutes into the second half, but in the 66th minute former Vale favourite Des Sutherland dispossessed Steven Notman 30 yards from goal and executed a deft chip over the head of Mark Wilson and in. In a bad tempered game, Vale didn't help their cause by losing their discipline badly, culminating in a red card for Vale's Ross Alexander in the 79th minute for raising his hands to Gala's Wilson. Down to ten men, it looked a lost cause for Vale, and Gala added another through substitute Robert Hewittson in the 86th minute.
Vale of Leithen: Mark Wilson; Ross Alexander, Ross McManus, Colin Smith, Campbell Forsyth (Scott Johnston 87), Andy Hardie (Robbie Clark 74), Mike MacKale (Greg Young h-t), Steven Notman, Grieg Shortreed, Aaron Somerville, Raymond Fleming.
Gala Fairydean: Gavin Watson; Andy McDonald, Liam Hardie (Robert Hewittson 81), Gareth Wood (Lawrie Dunn 60), Colin Riddle, Paul Hossack, Jay Wilson, Grant Gass, Des Sutherland (Grant Robinson 74), Jamie Gibson, Kev Matheson.
Referee: Andy Rooney.
06/05/08 Vale of Leithen 8-1 Hawick Royal Albert
Vale cruised through to a King Cup quarter final meeting with Heriot-Watt University after crushing Hawick Royal Albert. Vale took the lead after 17 minutes of play as Aaron Somerville ran on to a quick free kick from captain Campbell Forsyth, before Mike MacKale added a second in the 32nd minute as Royalists keeper Steven Walker failed to hold a Ross Alexander shot and MacKale followed up to net. Two minutes later it was three as MacKale attempted to lob Walker, but the keeper did well to palm it away. Unfortunately for Hawick, Greig Shortreed was on hand to collect the ball and square it to Steven Notman, who hammered home. MacKale grabbed his second in the 38th minute bulleting a shot high into the net and a fifth came nine minutes into the second half as Somerville finished a good move. MacKale completed his hat trick in the 59th minute, again following up after a Notman shot had rebounded off the bar, while Somerville got his third in 72 minutes and his fourth, and Vale's eighth, in the 87th minute. The visitors at least headed back down to Hawick with a goal to their name, as a shot from substitute Mike Moir bounced wickedly in front of Vale keeper Mark Wilson and bounced off his shoulder into the net.
Vale of Leithen: Mark Wilson; Ross Alexander, Ross McManus, Colin Smith, Campbell Forsyth (Scott Johnston 61), Robbie Clark (Greg Young h-t), Mike MacKale, Steven Notman, Greig Shortreed, Aaron Somerville, Raymond Fleming (Andy Hardie h-t).
Hawick Royal Albert: Steven Walker; Michael Clark (Mike Moir 23), Alan Campbell, Ian Turnbull (Marc Fiddes 74), Jordan Gracie, Barry Rayson, Tony Craggs, Shaun Ingles, Steven Sharkey, Barry Shiel, Joss Shearman.
Referee: Ian Bristow.
03/05/08 Peebles 0-2 Vale of Leithen
Vale's recent good form continued with victory in the final Peeblesshire derby of the season. Vale were out for revenge after Peebles had won the fixture at Victoria Park a couple of weeks ago, and got it thanks to a superb double from ex-Peebles player Greig Shortreed. The opening quarter of an hour was typical derby stuff - fast and furious, with some rough and ready tackling and a couple of yellow cards for Peebles' Paul Devlin and Paul Lee. But Vale made the breakthrough after 17 minutes of play, as a Raymond Fleming cross got stuck in a melee of players, with the ball eventually knocked into the air for Shortreed to head across the line. The goal calmed the game down and Vale started to play some good football, and Ryan McManus was unlucky not to add a second as he got to a Steven Notman through ball ahead of Peebles keeper Darren Walker. But the grounded McManus could only watch in agony as his effort rebounded off the inside of the post and across the goal mouth before being cleared by Kevin Robertson. Peebles' Kerr Dodds tested Mark Wilson as he did well to get a header in from a Paul Devlin corner, but Vale were in command and Peebles suffered a blow as they found themselves a man down ten minutes into the second half. Centre-half Robertson clattered Ryan McManus with a wild tackle on the edge of the penalty area, both players ending up prostrate on the ground as an angry group of players surrounded them to debate the issue. McManus was able to continue after treatment, but referee Kenny Rogers had ruled Robertson to be the last man and flashed a straight red card as the defender limped off. Once again the game started to get a bit scrappy, but in the 69th minute Shortreed produced his second to kill off the Peebles challenge. As Raymond Fleming played a pass through, it looked like Peebles' Gavin Tainsh was favourite to mop up the situation, but sheer determination got Shortreed to the ball ahead of him, before letting fly across Walker and into the far corner of the net. Disappointingly, Vale picked up three avoidable bookings in the latter stages, as Colin Smith for dissent, Shortreed for time-wasting and Notman for a foul made their way into the referee's notebook, but it couldn't dampen the delight of the result.
Peebles: Darren Walker; Gavin Tainsh, Aaron Paterson, Paul Lee, Kevin Robertson, Kerr Dodds, Michael Osbourne, Paul Greenhill, Glen Harley (Paul Russell 55), Paul Devlin, Mark Brown (Chris Graham 61).
Vale of Leithen: Mark Wilson; Ross Alexander, Ross McManus, Colin Smith, Campbell Forsyth, Robbie Clark (Greg Young 59), Ryan McManus (Mike MacKale 70), Steven Notman (Jack Diamond 87), Greig Shortreed, Aaron Somerville, Raymond Fleming.
Referee: Kenny Rogers.