Selkirk 1

Vale of Leithen 3

David Knox at Yarrow Park

INTERIM manager Mark Lamb finally steered the good ship Vale to calmer waters on Tuesday evening following a stormy past month.

After a run of heavy defeats and managerial changes, the inclusion of two trialists - former player Keith Lough and current Penicuik boss Craig Meikle - appeared to bring stability back to the Lowland League side.

Against a youthful Selkirk side, Vale more than deserved the three points to move up to third bottom in the league.

Lamb told us: "We were a different side tonight from the one was pumped by Gala in the cup.

"I really wish I could have included a couple of trialists for the cup match as they made such a difference.

"We're not getting carried away, we know that was a very young Selkirk side tonight without a lot of their big players but I thought we were very good at times and deserved the win."

Vale's height and physical advantage was evident early on as Jason Stevens and Kenny O'Brien continued to win tackles and headers.

Stevens twice headed wide from inswinging corners with the goal at his mercy.

And David McLeod also missed the target from 12 yards with another header from a corner.

Apart from a Conan McDiarmid freekick which brushed off James Harley to sweep round the wrong side of the post, Selkirk had offered little going forward.

A Stevens shot on the half hour was well saved by Jamie Newman with Kenny O'Brien's follow-up effort being blocked in front of goal.

Steven Lynch almost broke the deadlock on 39 minutes but his lob from 20 yards landed on the bar and was pushed away to safety.

Selkirk took the lead on 43 minutes as Phil Addison burst to the byline and his cut back was banged into the net by Michael Collin.

Vale equalised within a minute with a soft penalty.

Liam McIntosh's shot smacked against McDiarmid, who was no more than two yards away, just inside the area and a hand-ball decision was given.

McIntosh tucked away the spot kick.

Selkirk looked lively enough at the start of the second half with Jordan Easson forcing a good save from Andy McQueen.

But it was the visitors who edged in front on 55 minutes.

Ryan Sclater's diagonal freekick was met perfectly by the head of Meikle for the ball to zip into the top corner of the net.

The home team enjoyed plenty of possession, but the closest they came to equalising was a Collin shot over the bar after he had beaten two defenders.

Lough wrapped up the points in the 84th minute as he took full advantage of a defensive mix up to scoop the ball into the empty net from the angle.

Selkirk coach Davie Robertson admitted his side were second best. He said: "We may be missing a few but there is still no excuse for that type of performance.

"We struggled to get to grips with the game at times."

Selkirk. J Newman, M Samson, R Scott, J Harley (K Scott 46), C McDiarmid, M Collin (S Guiney 88), J Easton, F Neave (J Butler 69), R King, M Christie & P Addison.

Vale of Leithen. A McQueen, D Mcleod, R Sclater, C Meikle, J Elliot, S Lynch, A Hunter, K O'Brien, J Stevens (C Moir 88), K Lough & L McIntosh (A Robertson 86).