WATCH: Scottish Cup shootout agony for Deveronvale at Haddington Athletic and reaction from Vale manager Craig Stewart
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Deveronvale manager Craig Stewart says his players were left bitterly disappointed after Saturday’s Scottish Cup penalty shootout defeat.
Vale lost out on spot kicks to Haddington Athletic after a 1-1 draw at Millfield Park in the first round replay in East Lothian - see Scottish Cup YouTube highlights above.
Dane Ballard’s early strike put the visitors ahead before Haddington levelled quickly, and neither side could break the deadlock, meaning the lottery of penalties.
Vale’s Sam Robertson saw his kick saved while every other one was scored, meaning the home side progressed to a second round tie against Brechin City.
“It was really disappointing to lose on penalties,” said Stewart. “It’s a bit of a lottery. We just missed the one penalty and their penalties were exceptional to be fair.
“They were absolutely gutted in the changing room after the game and they will feel it for a couple of days.
It’s up to Mo (Vale assistant manager Mike Morrison) and myself to get the boys up again and I don’t think there will be problem doing that.
“I don’t think either team did enough during the 90 minutes to win the game. Their keeper was definitely a bit busier than ours, but we didn’t do enough to put pressure on them.
“Sean (McIntosh) in our goal didn’t have a save to make. There was nothing in the contest over the two games.
“I just look back to the first game and I think it was a missed opportunity with the way we performed in the second half. Although we did score with the last kick of the ball to get a replay, I do think we kind of blew it going 2-1 down.
“That’s it for another year (in the Scottish Cup) and it’s disappointing because you want to go on a wee run and test yourself against teams higher up in the leagues.”
Stewart revealed that defender Harry Noble had surgery on his cruciate ligament in his knee last Wednesday and is beginning the long journey of recuperation towards returning next season.
“Harry got his operation and the surgeon is happy that things went well,” he said.
“It’s maybe nine months to a year of recovery time but it’s a step forward in the right direction and good to see him on the way back. It’s a positive.”
Vale are hoping that fellow stopper Kevin Adams' knee injury isn’t in the same category as Noble’s. “We are waiting to hear results for his scan and we can only keep our fingers crossed on that one and hopefully its not as bad as feared.”
Adams will miss Saturday’s trip to Turriff United while Innes McKay will be assessed after limping off against Haddington.
