Vale fire in eight as Fort toil in the pouring rain
Four goals either side of half time secured a comfortable win for Deveronvale, who punished Fort William for missing a first-minute penalty at a sodden Claggan Park on Saturday.
With the remnants of Storm Callum still persisting, the rain lashed down at Claggan Park. Few could have predicted this game to go ahead and it is credit to the ground staff and management at the club for ensuring this fixture went ahead.
Changes
Fort manager Kris Andersen made a number of changes to the side, with David McGurk absent and John Treasurer deployed in a deeper centre back role.
Fort William could not have asked for a better start after being awarded a penalty in the first minute following a handball in the area from a Deveronvale defender. However, Andrew Reid’s low penalty was saved by the Vale keeper’s legs. In the following five minutes the Fort notched up three corners in quick succession, even hitting the bar with one effort.
Their early dominance would be short-lived, however, as Matthew Wallace’s deflected goal skipped past Fort keeper Callum Ligertwood to open the scoring after 16 minutes. The visitors got another one eight minutes later after a slick passing move down the right flank left Leszek Nowosielki free at the back post to tap in.
Dipped
Harry Noble got Vale’s third soon after with a left-footed effort from 30 yards which just dipped under the bar into the top corner.
Vale continued to carve the Fort open down the right wing and made it 4-0 through another quick passing move which allowed Robert Scott to finish at the back post.
The Fort did have a chance to score before the half-time break as Majewski latched on to a clearance and dribbled up the park before Scott Hunter fired over the bar.
Eight minutes after the break Vale got their fifth as Noble made the most of a melee in the box after a corner to tap in this second of the game.
It was at this point that Fort began to come into the game a bit more and began to create some nice passing moves and were unfortunate not to get break in front of goal.
The pressure didn’t amount to much, however, and Vale took advantage of a scuffed Ligertwood clearance to score another, before Sam Robertson made it seven.
With less than 10 minutes to go, the Fort’s Scott Hunter saw red after a kick out at Vale’s Jody Munro, who was also given his marching orders.
The Fort were dissected once more by a diagonal ball from the Vale left back which was controlled instantly by Lewis Dunbar who deftly chipped Ligertwood from the edge of the box.
The Fort are in action again this Saturday (October 20) against Inverurie Locos at Claggan Park.