Jags make it two from two with victory over Vale

South Lochaber Thistle (SLT) made it two from two in this season’s President’s League Cup with a comprehensive victory over Vale of Leven at the weekend.

After negotiating more than 45 minutes of traffic tailbacks the SLT squad, missing a few regulars with work commitments and one to Covid, took to Argyll Park on a sweltering Alexandria afternoon.

Vale had the best of the play for the first 10 minutes but soon succumbed to the fast and intricate play of the Jags in only their second game of the season. Vale scored from a Ross Macfarlane header at a corner soon after Martin Munro had opened the scoring but by half-time SLT found themselves 4-1 to the good.

Early in the second half, the Vale had a chance to peg the Jags back after Kieran Lopez gave away what appeared to be a soft penalty, which Ross Davies converted.

From then, however, Vale found it hard to break down a resolute Jags defence with Callum Boyd and Stevie Neil winning everything at centre half. SLT added a fifth before the referee gave Lopez a second yellow and a red after a challenge. The disappointment of losing Lopez spurred the team on to score the sixth and put the game to bed. Manager Alan Gray said: ‘That was an absolutely fantastic performance. Some of the new players have given me a proper selection headache as we approach the Scottish Cup first round tie next week.’

The Jags travel to Springburn outfit Bengal Lancers for that fixture as the Kinlochleven outfit look to make it past the first round for the first time in their history.