Vale stunned by title favourites
Disastrous first half leaves no chance of comeback
Vale of Earn have pledged to take the positives from a tough afternoon against Letham.
Saturday’s Division One tie resulted in a chastening 7-0 defeat for the men from Market Park.
The hosts from the Fair City went into the match in fine form and continued their momentum against a Vale side who were a little slow out of the starting blocks.
Things soon deteriorated for the men from Crieff and they found themselves 5-0 down when the referee blew the whistle for half-time.
The break gave Garry Brock’s men the chance to gather their thoughts and the local lads went out for the second period with a renewed determination to give a good account of themselves.
They dug in and showed admirable team spirit to restrict a rampant Letham, who would appear early favourites for the title this season, to only two more goals.
Vale, who have recently added Keith McCallister to the club’s backroom staff, are without a game this weekend, according to the Perthshire Amateur Football Association website.
The club is running a bus to the North of Tay Cup tie away at Monifeith on October 15.
Anyone interested in attending can contact the club via Facebook.
Fellow Crieff side Strathearn Grove travelled to Davie Park in Rattray to play Blair Thistle on Saturday.
The hosts are a new addition to Division Three this season and have a squad largely comprised of young players.
Grove dominated the early exchanges and took the lead before going on to miss numerous chances to increase their advantage before half-time.
Thistle equalised early on after the interval and moved in front with a strike low into the bottom corner.
A Blair penalty made it 3-1 to the home side before Grove rallied to net what would turn out to be a late consolation.
Grove are up against Dunkeld and Birnam in the league on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2pm.
Auchterarder Primrose drew 3-3 away at Craigie on Saturday in a Division One tie played on the astroturf pitches next to St Johnstone’s McDiarmid Park in Perth.
Sinclair, Cruickshanks and MacGillivray scored for the men from the Lang Toon who, like Vale of Earn, are without a game this weekend, according to the PAFA.