Deveronvale player manager Garry Wood claims mistaken identity led to his third red card of Highland League season but praises Princess Royal Park comeback win over Keith
Deveronvale are set to appeal player manager Garry Wood’s third red card of the season in Friday night’s thrilling Banffshire derby.
Wood claims referee Scott Donohoe mistakenly believed that an abusive shout from amidst the Princess Royal Park crowd came from the Vale boss, who played in the game but had been substituted, and sent him off for dissent.
Vale came from 2-0 down to end a nine-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over a Keith side forced to hand 41-year-old goalkeeping legend Andy Shearer a comeback.
The stoppage time dismissal failed to dampen Vale joy at picking up their first victory since February 8, but Wood is adamant that he did nothing wrong.
The former Elgin City, Caley Thistle and Ross County striker had already been red-carded twice this term and fears if his latest sending off was allowed to stand, it would end his season prematurely.
He explained how Vale kicked the ball out of play when a Keith player got injured and when the match resumed, the Maroons didn’t throw the ball back to their hosts, creating a dispute.
“They've played on, and then one of our guys has been booked,” Wood said. “Somebody from the crowd, I think, has shouted something to the referee.
“I have not said anything to the referee, and he's came over to me, didn't even say anything, he just showed my red card, so I was a bit perplexed as to why I got sent off.
“I went to see him after the game, and he explained that there was a comment said by someone, and because I'm the most senior person in the dugout, I automatically get the red card, which is a bit frustrating.
“That could be technically my season done, which is frustrating, considering I've never done anything wrong. So we're going to appeal it anyway, and we'll see how that goes.”
Wood was delighted to see his men fight back after going two goals down inside the opening quarter of the match.
A goalkeeping emergency forced Keith manager Craig Ewen to call up veteran Shearer, a winner of eight winners medals during a glorious Maroons’ career, to make his 350th appearance for the club almost 13 years after his 349th.
It looked like it would be a winning comeback when Ronan Craib and ex-Vale man Horace Ormsby scored two quick Keith goals midway through the first half.
Former Keith man Dem Yunus quickly got one back, and a half time dressing down from Wood sparked Vale into second half action as Jay Goldie and Jack Mitchell both netted to snatch victory for the home side.
“It was our last home game of the season and a positive way to finish,” said Wood. “We were disappointed with the goals that we lost and gave ourselves a mountain to climb, which is probably similar to a lot of the games this year.
“We haven't been at our best defensively, but the guys showed a lot of character, especially with the run that we've been on, and to get the win in the last game at home, that's really pleasing.”
The manager admitted his team had been deflated by their nine consecutive losses, but said the majority of those games were against top half teams.
“Let's be honest, the games that we've played, they've been difficult, they've been teams that have been above us in the league, bar maybe a couple.
“So, we didn't really have a respite, where you are getting potentially more winnable games. Some of the performances were good, some of them performances were below standard, but ultimately we were really keen to get a win on Friday.”
Facing ten losses in a row at the break, Wood admitted he let loose on his players.
“I gave them some home truths, to be honest, as I wasn't happy with the first half performance in general.
“Although we came in at 2-1 down, I thought we were a bit off it, to be honest, and I definitely got the reaction in the second half, and everybody played their part. It was a really good turnaround, and the fans obviously went home happy, I guess.”
The fact that Vale lost nine straight matches yet find themselves sitting in 12th place speaks volumes for the strides they have made this season in Wood’s first year of management.
“There's been massive improvements this year, there's no getting away from that. We've bettered our points total from last year, that was obviously the main thing and we did that quite early on.
“Whether the guys have took their foot off the pedal a wee bit, possibly, but the improvement is there and we'll be looking for the same again next season.”
Vale complete their campaign with three road trips starting with Huntly on Wednesday night, on to Rothes on Saturday and finishing off with Nairn County.
Now that their winless streak is over, the manager plans to experiment with his team as he casts an eye on to the next season.
“We’re going to use this as an opportunity to try and blood some youngsters, and some of the players that haven’t had game time as well, so there'll be a bit of trial and error from our side.
“I think it's only right to try and do that, as planning for next season starts today.
“Obviously we'd be delighted to go and win three games, but ultimately we need to try and plan for the future as well, and by giving some of the guys that haven't had minutes to see if they can actually perform at this level.
“That’s what we're going to try and do for the rest of the season, and hopefully try and pick up as much points as we can as well.”
