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Vale gained a precious away point at the Commonwealth Stadium
in this East of Scotland Premier Division clash, but could
well have taken all three after having the majority of possession
and hitting the woodwork no less than five times during the
game. Vale were missing the suspended Jamie Lauder and still
without injury victims Kerr Dodds and Darren Gillon, but captain
Mike Stewart had recovered sufficiently to take his place
at the centre of defence, while Scott Moffat, who was delayed
on his way to the ground, started on the bench and his place
upfront ably filled by Aaron Brunton. Vale started well, taking
the game to City and after quarter of an hour Steve Radzynski
stabbed the ball against the post during an attack. Despite
Vale having the lions share of possession and territorial
advantage, it was the home side who took the lead in the 22nd
minute. Ian McFarland picked up the ball midway inside the
Vale half and pushed it forward to Darren Moonie, who split
the defence with an inch perfect pass into the path of Andy
Howat, who found the corner of the net. Back came Vale, with
a tremendous solo run by Andy Martin ending with a shot crashing
off the upright. City suffered a blow as defender Shaun Harrison
limped off injured and had another scare as a Gavin Tainsh
cross-cum-shot hit off the outside of the post. City threatened
again as Howat headed a Dougie Gair header over, but Vale
went close during injury time of the first half as Steve Radzynski
got on the end of a Paul Greenhill free kick, but his effort
bounced off the top of the bar. Vale made a half time change
as striker Moffat replaced Brunton and the substitute made
an immediate impact as he pulled a goal back six minutes into
the second half. The goal was route one football at it's simplest
- a huge clearance from keeper Darren Walker bounced over
the heads of the Edinburgh City defence, putting Moffat in
on goal and he tucked the ball beyond City keeper Andrew Stobie
to level the game. Vale looked the side most likely to win
the game now and Chris Beaton, who was having a fine game
in the centre of midfield, cracked a shot on target, but Michael
Bruce managed to get in the way to divert it behind. From
Martin's corner, Paul Lee headed just too high. A shot by
Radzynski just cleared the crossbar and another attack saw
the ball pinging around inside the box before falling to Beaton,
whose shot was well saved by Stobie. Lee curled a free kick
just over the bar, but time was running out and Walker pulled
off a great save to deny City substitute Ryan Wilson bagging
a dramatic late winner. The game ended on a sour note as Vale's
Greenhill and City's McFarland clashed near the corner flag
in injury time. A confrontation between the pair saw the Vale
player joined by his teamates Stewart and John Hall and after
the dust had settled, all three Vale players were booked before
ex-City player Hall was called back by the referee and shown
a second yellow card.
Edinburgh City: Andrew Stobie; Joe Dingwall, Ruairidh Scott,
Jamie Bain, Shaun Harrison (Peter Stenhouse 32), Michael Bruce,
Darren Moonie (Ryan Wilson 67), Dougie Gair, Andy Howat, Ian
McFarland, Ross Guthrie (Kevin Cairnie 79).
Vale of Leithen: Darren Walker; Gavin Tainsh, Paul Lee, Mike
Stewart, John Hall, Paul Greenhill, Andy Martin, Chris Beaton,
Steve Radzynski, Aaron Brunton (Scott Moffat h-t), Graeme
Cole (Andy Milligan 86).
Referee: Craig Charleston.
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Barely 24 hours after being confirmed as the new Vale manager,
Robbie Horn's first game was probably the most formidable
challenge in East of Scotland football, facing defending champions
Spartans at Ainslie Park. Although they went down 2-0, Vale
were far from disgraced, never making it easy for their opponents
and putting together some excellent moves until a late goal
and a red card for Jamie Lauder ended the game as a contest.
With injury victim Mike Stewart missing his first competitive
game since joining the club, Vale were forced into a defensive
reshuffle. Paul Lee joined John Hall in the centre, while
Lauder dropped to left back. Vale started brightly, with Scott
Moffat going close with a shot and further chances falling
to Moffat and Gavin Tainsh, but pretty soon the capital side
took control and went on to dominate the first 45. Chris Townsley
got up well to head a Dean Hoskins free kick on target, but
keeper Darren Walker was well positioned to collect. Lauder
was given a torrid time by flying winger Omar Kader, who glided
past his opponent on numerous occasions. One such time resulted
in Kader finding Gavin Malin at the back post, drawing a superb
fingertip save from Walker. Kader almost put Spartans in the
lead when he headed a Hoskins cross against the post, but
the home side did take the lead a few minutes before half
time as Donal Henretty picked up a Malin cross and, despite
the attentions of Lee and Hall, found space to send a shot
high into the net. Vale came more into the game in the second
half, seeing much more of the ball, but in contrast to the
crisp passing of Spartans, the players seemed to always want
that extra touch that caused them to lose momentum. An intriguing
personal clash between Vale captain Hall and Spartans free-scoring
centre forward Keith McLeod was apparent. The respect the
pair had for each other was obvious and a good old fashioned
battle that never descended into foul play provided an interesting
sub plot to the game, with Hall taking the honours as McLeod
was restricted to a few long-range shots that never troubled
Walker. At the other end, Steve Radzynski, playing his first
competitive game for the club, was reduced to a largely anonymous
figure, finding himself shackled by Spartans defensive pairing
of Townsley and Kevin Sivewright. Even so, Radzynski had Vale's
best chance when Lauder carried the ball forward before slipping
a pass to Andy Martin. Martin cut the ball inside to Radzynski,
whose shot on the turn cleared the crossbar by a matter of
centimetres. Vale showed belief that they could get something
from the game, replacing midfielder Graeme Cole with another
striker in Aaron Brunton, but in the 76th minute, Spartans
grabbed a second when Walker could only parry a shot and Kader
picked up the loose ball and cut back for Malin to finish
from close range. A few minutes later, Lauder, who had been
booked ten minutes earlier for dissent, was shown a second
yellow for upending a Spartans player and Spartans comfortably
played out the remainder of the game to collect the points.
Spartans:Chris Flockhart; Ross Archibald, Dean Hoskins, Chris
Townsley, Kevin Sivewright, Omar Kader (Sean McAuley 81),
Gavin Malin (Chris Smith 81), Robbie Manson, Donal Henretty
(David Etale 80), Keith McLeod, Jack Beesley.
Vale of Leithen: Darren Walker; Gavin Tainsh, Jamie Lauder,
Paul Lee, John Hall, Paul Greenhill, Andy Martin (Andy Penman
84), Chris Beaton, Steve Radzynski, Scott Moffat, Graeme Cole
(Aaron Brunton 71).
Referee: Gianluca Marini.
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This Image Printers East of Scotland Qualifying Cup First
Round game was called off due to an unfortunate power cut
at Albert Park. Groundworks constructing a new fence at the
stadium cut through a power cable, leaving the stand without
electricity. Although repairs were scheduled, there was no
guarantee that power would be installed in time for the game
to go ahead, so the decision was taken to postpone the tie,
which will be rearranged at a later date.
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Vale followed their winning start on Saturday by crashing
at home to Selkirk, thanks to goals in each half by Des Sutherland
and Jason Cockburn. The Souters may be many pundits tip for
a relegation place, but they've proved over the last few seasons
they have what it takes to survive in the Premier Division.
They played with a bucket-load of spirit, pressing and harrying
Vale, and rarely allowing the Innerleithen men to get into
their stride. The visitors lined up with no less than five
former Vale players looking to put one over their former club,
while in captain John Dodds have a goalkeeper who is virtually
worth a goal of a start. Selkirk came at Vale from the first
whistle and took the lead after 13 minutes when a Craig Pinnons
cross deflected into the path of Sutherland, who wasted no
time in dispatching the ball into the net. Winger Pinnons
was running riot up the right hand side and another cross
presented Sutherland with another chance, but Vale defender
Paul Lee challenged well to snuff out the threat. Vale suffered
a the loss of midfielder Darren Gillon in the 20th minute,
forced off with a leg injury and his place was taken by Andy
Martin, making his first appearance since suffering ligament
damage at the tail end of last season. Martin made an immediate
impact, speeding down the right to set up Scott Moffat, but
the shot was superbly tipped over the bar by Dodds. As half
time loomed, Dodds again saved Selkirk as he dived to turn
a Gavin Tainsh free kick headed for the bottom corner round
the post. A stirring start to the second half saw Martin at
the centre of things, warming Dodds' hands with a shot and
seconds later firing in a cross that was cut out by Jason
Inglis. There was some desperate defending going on from Selkirk
at times, but they held firm and caught Vale with a sucker
punch in the 76th minute as substitute Shaun Hardie won a
battle for the ball with Vale's John Hall and fired a low
cross into the centre for veteran hit-man Cockburn to turn
the ball past Darren Walker. Further chances for Vale fell
to Lee, Andy Penman and Moffat, but in truth the home side
never looked like breaching Selkirk's last line and the visitors
ran out deserved winners.
Vale of Leithen: Darren Walker; Gavin Tainsh, Paul Lee, Mike
Stewart, John Hall, Paul Greenhill (Rory Stewart 82), Chris
Beaton, Darren Gillon (Andy Martin 20), Keith Murray (Andy
Penman h-t), Scott Moffat, Jamie Lauder.
Selkirk: John Dodds; Scott McKenzie, Ross McManus, Jason Inglis,
Euan Pritchard, Jay Wilson (Paul Hossack 76), Ryan McManus,
Grant Gass (Tony Craggs 48), Des Sutherland (Shaun Hardie
61), Jason Cockburn, Craig Pinnons.
Referee: Mark Doyle.
• Following the game, Vale decided to part company with
manager Stewart Churchill. The remaining members of the management
team will take control of team affairs until further notice.
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Vale kicked off their first Premier Division campaign in half
a dozen years with a win. Not since a 4-2 victory over Preston
Athletic in April 2004 have Vale collected three points in
the East of Scotland's top league, and the match winning goal
from Scott Moffat was Vale's first Premier Division strike
since Mel Graham netted in a draw with Craigroyston, also
in April 2004. Vale were missing a few key players, with Kerr
Dodds still injured, while Steve Radzynski was serving the
first match of his two-game suspension and Aaron Brunton was
unavailable. This left Vale short upfront, but manager Stewart
Churchill fielded former Hibs youngster Keith Murray as a
trialist. The first half was a tight affair, with a compressed
midfield seeing both sides mainly cancel each other out. The
first real chance of the match fell to midfielder Chris Beaton,
who spotted Watt goalkeeper John Falconer off his line, but
his attempted lob from distance fell wide. Just past the quarter
hour mark, Watt's Michael Connor hit a shot from the edge
of the area which bounced off the post with Vale keeper Darren
Walker beaten. At the other end, a Gavin Tainsh cross found
Murray in the middle, who took the ball past Watt keeper John
Falconer, but as he attempted to guide the chance home, Jordan
Irvine was on hand to clear the attempt off the line. Play
opened up in the second half, with the game starting to swing
from end to end. Despite some pressure, Vale's final ball
seemed to be lacking and the students, with some very mobile
players moving the ball about well, put together some good
moves, but found that as soon as the ball entered the penalty
area, Walker was claiming everything. The move of the match
saw Vale's Moffat feed the ball out to Paul Lee on the left
and his first time cross was met by Murray, but the striker's
header bounced inches wide. As time went on, it started to
look as if Vale's efforts to make the breakthrough might go
unrewarded, but seven minutes from the end Moffat collected
a long pass and rounded Falconer to slip the ball into the
net. It was a goal that was greeted with a huge roar from
the Victoria Park faithful, as much in relief as celebration
as they had been the better side throughout. The goal was
immediately followed by a scare as Watt captain Aaron James
went on a mazy run before unleashing a shot from 20 yards
that flew narrowly over. But Vale could have added to their
lead as visiting defender Dominic Samuel was penalised for
a foul on Gillon at the edge of the area, but Jamie Lauder
flashed the free kick just wide. A great move saw a Lauder
cross knocked down by Darren Gillon to give Moffat another
chance, but his powerful strike rattled the crossbar.
Vale of Leithen: Darren Walker; Gavin Tainsh, Paul Lee, Mike
Stewart, John Hall, Paul Greenhill, Chris Beaton, Darren Gillon,
Keith Murray (Andy Penman 77), Scott Moffat, Jamie Lauder.
Heriot-Watt Univeristy: John Falconer; Gavin Main, Aaron James,
Andy Forbes, Dominic Samuel, Jimmy Rae, Banji Koya, Matthew
Travis (Gordon Wilson 80), Ronnie Napier, Michael Connor,
Jordan Irvine (Stuart McIntyre 70).
Referee: John McCrossan.
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A Hibernian side containing no less than eight members of
the first team squad came from behind to beat Vale in a friendly
at a rainy Victoria Park. But the Innerleithen side were in
no way disgraced, matching their illustrious opponents for
long periods of the ninety minutes and making Hibs work hard
for their victory. The pace at which the Edinburgh side openend
the match suggested that Vale were in for a difficult evening,
but despite some early pressure from the visitors, it was
the home side who went ahead in the eleventh minute, albeit
in quite bizarre circumstances. Steve Radzynski rose to meet
a high ball forward with Hibs captain Ian Murray, and when
it fell to defender Steven Thicot, the Frenchman's attempt
to usher the ball back to his keeper eluded Mark Brown and
rolled into the net. With strike partner Scott Moffat often
dropping back to bolster the midfield, Radzynski was almost
a lone striker at times, but was putting in a good shift and
proving a handful for the Hibs defence. A pass from Gavin
Tainsh put Radzynski in on goal, but he couldn't get his shot
past Brown. Hibs were not slow in coming forward, but Vale
keeper Darren Walker was well positioned to clutch a header
from Hibs' Slovakian trialist to his chest, before getting
down to gather an awkward shot from Danny Galbraith. However
the capital side did equalise shortly before half time from
the penalty spot as Walker was adjudged to have pulled down
Lewis Stevenson in the area. Lee Currie stepped up to send
Walker the wrong way from the spot. The second half - as is
usually the case in pre-season friendlies - was a fragmented
affair as both sides made a slew of substitutions, with Vale
even replacing three of their back four. In the 65th minute,
Vale centre-half Rory Stewart, who had only been on the pitch
for a few minutes took an uncertain touch on the edge of the
area and was dispossessed by a tackle from Galbraith. The
ball broke to Stevenson, who crossed for substitute Danny
Handling to arrive at the back post and knock the ball in.
Vale had a wonderful chance to equalise as a great move saw
Jamie Lauder switch play to Tainsh, whose first time ball
across the face of goal fell invitingly for Radzynski, but
he somehow knocked the ball wide of the post. Vale weren't
about to get a better chance than that and were made to pay
in the 77th minute as David Crawford found Handling in front
of goal and his downward header beat Walker for his second
and Hibs third. Vale's Lauder had a shot tipped over by substitute
keeper Thomas Flynn and a Tainsh corner was flicked on by
Aaron Brunton, but came too quickly at Andy Penman for him
to get the header on target.
Vale of Leithen: Darren Walker; Gavin Tainsh, Paul Lee, Mike
Stewart, John Hall, Paul Greenhill, Chris Beaton, Darren Gillon,
Steve Radzynski, Scott Moffat, Jamie Lauder. Subs: Andy Milligan,
Rory Stewart, Aaron Brunton, Achraf Chbira, Andy Penman.
Hibernian XI: Mark Brown; Calum Burns, Scott Smith, Steven
Thicot, Ian Murray, Lee Currie, Lewis Horner, Lewis Stevenson,
Trialist, John Rankin, Danny Galbraith. Subs: Thomas Flynn,
Dean Horribine, Harry Monaghan, Ross Caldwell, David Gold,
Danny Handling, Phil Addison, David Crawford.
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What a difference 44 hours makes! After losing heavily to
Leithen Rovers on Thursday, Vale were back not only to winning
ways, but on top form as they brushed Berwick Rangers Reserves
aside at Old Shielfield. It was no surprise when the opener
came from Steve Radzynski, it was just amazing that it took
until the 38th minute for Vale to find the net in a first
half that they completely dominated. Good work down the left
by Scott Moffat saw him chip the ball across to the far post
where Radzynski sent a looping header dropping under the crossbar.
The second arrived on the stroke of half time, a long ball
forward from John Hall finding Moffat, who controlled the
ball superbly, took a couple of strides to steady himself
and send a shot low into the net. Vale were kicking down the
slope in the second half, but Berwick came more into game
and started putting together some attacking moves of their
own, but without putting Vale keeper Darren Walker under any
undue pressure - turning a cross away from a couple of attackers
and getting down to block a low shot was virtually the extent
of his contribution. Moffat should have been celebrating a
second in the 74th minute as his shot hit off the crossbar
and bounced over the line, but in an echo of Frank Lampard's
'goal' for England in the World Cup, the referee waved play
on. Gavin Tainsh fired in a powerful strike in the closing
minutes, but the Berwick substitute keeper turned the ball
over the bar well.
Vale of Leithen: Darren Walker; Gavin Tainsh, Paul Lee (Andy
Milligan 71), Mike Stewart, John Hall, Paul Greenhill, Chris
Beaton, Darren Gillon (Aaron Brunton 69), Steve Radzynski,
Scott Moffat (Andy Penman 78), Jamie Lauder.
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It was only a pre-season game, and therefore ultimately a
meaningless result, but there's no getting away from the fact
that Vale were humilated against their Border Amateur League
neighbours at Victoria Park. It was again an experimental
line-up, with several players missing and others taking up
unfamiliar positions, but positives were thin on the ground
as the visitors dominated midfield and exploited huge gaps
in the home defence to run up a 4-0 half time lead. Star of
the show was undoubtably Rovers' Alan McMath, who not only
scored four but turned in an exceptional performance in many
other respects. Rovers found themselves ahead after less than
a minute. Forcing a corner straight from kick off, it was
only half cleared and a shot flew in as the defence moved
out which was spilled by Vale keeper Ross Gilpin and McMath
nipped in to stab the ball home. Robin Shek added a second
in the 14th minute as Rovers cut through the Vale defence
with ease, Shek exchanging passes with a team mate before
bearing down on an exposed Gilpin to slot the ball into the
net. In 28 minutes Peter Shearlaw jinked his way down the
left before cutting back to McMath, who had all the time he
needed to pick his spot low into the right hand corner. McMath
completed his hat trick four minutes later as a long ball
found him in the box and he controlled with his chest and,
with the defence posted missing, found the net. Rovers almost
added a fifth as midfielder Colin Smith rose to head a Mike
Mair corner narrowly over the bar, but five minutes into the
second half it was five as yet again McMath was granted an
extraordinary amount of time and space in the box to bring
a long ball down superbly and fire home. Having put so much
into the game, Rovers - a couple of weeks behind Vale in terms
of pre-season preparations - began to tire, allowing Vale
to gain a foothold in the game. But this only served to expose
another problem - that the strikeforce was seriously mis-firing.
The two attempts on target Vale totalled during the ninety,
from John Hall and Steve Radzynski, were comfortably dealt
with by Rovers' ex-Vale stopper Mark Wilson, but further chances
falling to Scott Moffat, Radzynski and Aaron Brunton were
sent high or wide. Graeme Cole ran onto a Rory Stewart pass,
but the shot bounced past the upright. Cole then headed a
ball down into the path of the in-rushing Darren Gillon, who
was left with only Wilson to beat. It was the sort of chance
that Gillon would have normally have burst the net with, but
his miscued shot that flew past the post seemed to sum up
Vale's night.
Vale of Leithen: Ross Gilpin; Andy Milligan, Paul Lee, Robbie
Horn, John Hall, Chris Beaton, Gavin Tainsh, Jamie Lauder,
Steve Radzynski, Graeme Cole, Trialist. Subs: Scott Moffat,
Darren Gillon, Rory Stewart, Aaron Brunton, Jamie Hall.
Leithen Rovers: Mark Wilson; Derek Scott, Mike Mair, Ross
Forrest, Chris Borthwick, Colin Smith, Robin Shek, Darren
Stewart, Tosh Fleming, Alan McMath, Peter Shearlaw. Subs:
Callum McIntyre, Andrew Jackson, Roland Gibb, Jamie Wyper.
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Vale's scheduled return trip to meet Shields United this weekend
has unfortunately had to be cancelled due to circumstances
beyond the control of both clubs. Instead, Vale have arranged
a game against Berwick Rangers Reserves, who have re-joined
the East of Scotland League this season. The game takes place
on Saturday 7th at Shielfield with a 2.30pm kick off.
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