Deveronvale 1 Brechin City 3: Disputed goal and red card spoil a determined Vale display
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Craig Stewart felt decisions didn’t go Deveronvale’s way despite a battling display against title contenders Brechin City.
Vale lost 3-1 at home to a Brechin side which has won every match in league and cup football so far this season.
But the match was always in the balance, with the Banff men shutting out a strong visiting side for 66 minutes before a flurry of goals in the final quarter.
Stewart said Brechin’s opening goal shouldn’t have stood in his opinion, and was critical of the red card shown to Vale midfielder Horace Ormsby shortly after the home side had battled back to 2-1.
“We did well to stay in the game for the whole 90 minutes,” said manager Stewart. “We kept it at 0-0 and then I felt their first goal shouldn’t have counted.
Horace was clearly fouled in our view and the referee has let play go when he should have stopped for a free kick.
“For Horace’s red card, the guy was holding him and the ref should have blown his whistle then but he let it go for another five seconds. He should have nipped it in the bud.
“I’d be confident that he’s never been sent off before, he’s not that kind of lad. He did kick his leg out but more to free himself when they guy was holding on to him. The ref should never have let it get that far.
“We’re taking a lot of positives out of the game,” Stewart added. “Last season we weren’t competing against the top sides but we did compete with Fraserburgh in our first game and we did it against Brechin, so that is very encouraging.
Vale keeper Sean McIntosh saved a first half penalty, and it was midway through the second half before Brechin made the scoring breakthrough with a close range Marc Scott goal.
Seth Patrick made it 2-0 with a shot from distance but Dane Ballard's penalty had Vale back in the contest with 15 minutes to go.
Ormsby was then red carded and a late third from Jordan Northcott sealed the visitors' three points.
Vale will be on a mission to shoot down Formartine United on Wednesday for a place in the Aberdeenshire Cup semis.
Stewart leads his men to Pitmedden to take on a United side which has made a strong start to their campaign.
Formartine have three league wins under their belt and also defeated title favourites Buckie Thistle on penalties in the first round of the cup.
Vale also won on spot kicks at Hermes in round one, after Toni Jam’s late goal forced a 1-1 draw.
“It’s a tough tie for us but we can go into the game with confidence,” Stewart said. “I’m seeing an improvement in our performances.
After their midweek tie, Vale make a Highland League trip to Nairn County on Saturday.
Stewart expects Horace Ormsby to be given a two-game ban for his red card on Saturday but was still awaiting confirmation if the player could play in the midweek cup match, but Ormsby is definitely out for the Nairn game.
