Vale crack Craigroyston in top of table clash

Published 6 Nov 2009 12:00 0 Comments

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Vale of Leithen 1 v 0 Craigroyston

HE can't be described as a regular scorer during his time at Victoria Park, but when goals come for midfielder Greig Shortreed, they tend to be vital ones.

As Shortreed rose at the back post to meet a Gavin Tainsh cross two minutes into the match and find the net, no one inside Victoria Park would have thought that they had just witnessed the game's winning goal.

The remaining 88 minutes only served to compound the disbelief.

Although suggestions that this was some sort of league decider were way off the mark, expectations of a good game between the sides occupying the top two positions in the First Division at kick off were bang on.

Quite simply, this was an absolute cracker of a match. With both teams committed to attacking football, the action swung from end to end and no eventual outcome was a foregone conclusion until the referee sounded the final whistle.

Five minutes after the opener, Aaron Somerville stabbed the ball in after an Andy Martin shot was half-blocked.

But the assistant referee had raised his flag for offside against Somerville and it was disallowed.

Despite the bright start by Vale, Craigroyston started to get a grip on the game and went on to have the better of the first half.

They should have had an equaliser when Sean Martin found himself in on goal after a fine darting run into the box, but Vale keeper Darren Walker came out to parry his shot.

Steven Manson robbed Darren Gillon of possession in midfield to set Sammy Hassan off on a good run down the left. David Anderson threw himself at Hassan's cross, but the header went wide.

Moments later, Manson had a shot cleared off the line by Shortreed as yellow shirts flooded towards Walker's goal.

Vale stated to turn the tide as Paul Greenhill swiped a Martin cross on target, but Craig Weir was equal to it, diving to clutch the ball.

The second half continued in much the same vein, with Vale gaining the upper hand.

Gillon passed up a golden opportunity when he found himself in on goal but failed to lift the ball over Weir.

The Craigroyston goalkeeper then produced the save of the match as Somerville jinked his way through the defence before finding Scott Moffat at the back post.

Moffat couldn't have connected with the ball any better, but Weir pulled off an amazing stop from point blank range.

Shortly after, Somerville managed to round Weir, but his shot went centimetres wide into the side netting.

Craigroyston staged a late rally and had a shout for a penalty turned down as Manson appeared to be impeded in the area, before substitute Kris O'Neil saw a header bounce off the bar.

Manson had the ball in the net in injury time, but it was disallowed for an infringement and Vale clung on for the points.

Vale of Leithen: D. Walker; G. Tainsh, O. Sonko (R. Fleming 86), M. Stewart, P. Thomson, D. Gillon (F. Henderson 80), A. Martin, P. Greenhill, G. Rossi (S. Moffat 58), G. Shortreed, A. Somerville.

This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 06 Nov 09

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