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.

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.