Islavale pull off great escape from north junior football relegation in play-off final as Forres Mechanics loanee Kieran Hayllar’s stoppage time strike completes comeback win over derby rivals Deveronside
Down 2-0 with minutes to go and staring relegation in the face - then came the comeback.
Islavale produced one of the great escapes to defeat Deveronside 3-2 in Wednesday night’s North Junior Premier Division play-off final at Longside from a seemingly impossible position and stay in the top league.
The Keith side trailed by two goals after 83 minutes and looked poised to drop down to the Championship, with their Banffshire neighbours poised to replace them.
But a thrilling revival saw Vale pull one back from the spot, drawn level on 90 minutes then grab the most dramatic of winning goals five minutes into time added on.
It means Michael Dunn’s team stay in the Premier next season and Deveronside miss out on promotion at the death and will stay in the Championship.
‘Side couldn’t have hoped for a much better start to the final at Davidson Park, going ahead through an Ethan Blanchard goal on eight minutes.
When Jordan Russell made it 2-0 not long before half time, Deveronside were in a strong position for promotion.
But they had defender Michael Wood sent off, and Vale were determined to make the extra man count.
They couldn’t get back into the game until a penalty award on 83 minutes led to Ricky Henderson pulling one back.
And there was real drama right on 90 minutes when sub Kacper Kaniewski netted to tie the scores at 2-2.
Incredibly, there was still time for a winning goal and Islavale’s hero was Forres Mechanics loan youngster Kieran Hayllar.
The teenager netted in both legs of ‘Vale’s semi-final win over Stoneywood Parkvale and on 90+5 minutes he was a hero once again, striking his team’s third goal to complete an astonishing late turnaround.
‘Side’s misery was completed by a second red card shown to Caden Beaton.
