Jags trounced by Vale in Highland League basement battle
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The hotly anticipated showdown between fellow Highland League stragglers Deveronvale and Strathspey Thistle ended in a humiliating 7-0 defeat for the Jags at Princess Royal Park on Saturday.
Thistle boss Charlie Brown was left bitterly disappointed with the result, frustrated by defensive mistakes in a one sided affair.
He said: “I am very disappointed with both the outcome and the performance from the players. The lads know they have to do much better all over the park, both attacking and defensively.
“Vale deserved the win – maybe not by so much of a gap – but if we constantly cause our own problems then teams will take advantage of this and punish us.”
The Jags went into the game with a raft of player absences to contend with, including Ben Cullen and Michael MacCallum (work commitments), Daniel Whitehorn, and Thomas McInnes and Jordan Shaw who were both ill.
Brown added: “The amount of absences really makes things difficult for us as we can’t afford to change much.”
Despite a bright start, Strathspey were found picking the ball out of the net after just a few minutes when Harry Noble sent the ball past Oliver Kelly. The strike was chalked off though, with Dane Ballard deemed to be in an offside position.
The opener was delayed only momentarily as Elgin City loanee Matt Jamieson struck with a curling shot from the edge of the box to make it 1-0 on 12 minutes.
Strathspey threatened from corner kicks, with Sean McIntosh having to react well to punch the ball clear, before Vale scored again on 24 minutes. Collecting the ball just outside the box, midfielder Horace Ormsby fired through the grasp of Kelly, who will likely feel he could have done better to keep the ball out.
The Jags’ defensive frailties were beginning to show as a last ditch defensive block was needed to deny Ballard after hesitance from Kelly left his side in trouble.
Jamieson extended Vale’s lead to three on the stroke of half time, accepting the ball from Innes McKay before showing great composure to breeze past Connor Austin and find the net.
Ballard, who had been knocking on the door throughout the first half, grabbed Vale’s fourth two minutes into the second half with a low driven shot from the edge of the area.
Vale were in cruise control by this point and Jamieson completed his hat-trick with a curling effort inside the box on 53 minutes.
Kelly denied Ormsby for what should have been a certain goal – but he made amends just moments later when he netted his second, catching the Thistle stopper in possession.
Substitute Antonio Jam rounded off the scoring with his side's seventh on 78 minutes.
Deveronvale: McIntosh, Goldie (R Allan 52), H Noble, Hay, McKay, Bradford, Orsmby, B Allan, Ballard, Jamieson (Jam 64), Watson (MacKillop-Hall 71)
Not used: Bashua, Angus, G Noble, Shingler
Strathspey: Kelly, McDade, Austin, Loveland, Cuthbert (Gilliland 55), Cruickshank (Brew 55), Davison, McShane, Paterson, Taylor, Kerr
Referee: F Mazzoni
The defeat cuts Thistle adrift from Vale and the rest of the pack by eight points, and to make matters worse, a 2-0 win for Banks o’ Dee at Huntly ensured that the Grantown side returned to the bottom of the Highland League table on goal difference.
This weekend, the Jags welcome Rothes to Seafield Park and manager Brown is hopeful that his side can tighten up in the areas where it counts.
He added: "Rothes are a strong team with pace in the final third so we will need to limit the space in behind our back four.
"I will be looking for our guys to be more touch tight to their opposing players to limit the space and time on the ball."
Personnel wise, the Jags boss expects to have Michael MacCallum, Daniel Whitehorn and Thomas McInnes available for selection once again.
