Vale indulge in their very own Highland clearance

GRANTON VALE maintained their pace in the title-chasing pack of the Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur FA Premier Division 1 with a convincing 5-0 victory over struggling Seaforth Highlanders at Saughton 3G.

Vale were afforded numerous opportunities to punish their opponents thanks to a multitude of slip-ups in the Seaforth defence, and duly ran riot, adding four second-half goals to a slender half-time advantage to take the spoils.

Seaforth had plenty of opportunities of their own, and should have opened the scoring after nine minutes.

Ian Buchan showed exemplary control of the ball in midfield before spraying it wide to Brian Love on the left wing. Love then slipped a pass into the penalty area for the onrushing Alex Smiley and, although the striker's first touch took him past the defence and into a prime shooting position, he skewed his shot with the outside of his right boot wide of the right-hand post. On the half-hour, Granton made the breakthrough, being invited to make their first purposeful attack of the game by their generous opponents.

Seaforth's defensive four had spent much of the time stroking the ball along the backline while patiently instigating a break forward, but one stray pass by centre-back Neil Ferguson immediately set Granton free. The ball ran to Jamie Lipscombe, who passed forward to Vale teammate Ryan Pollock, and the latter dispatched a powerful finish past David Hastings.

Mark Cowan almost doubled Vale's lead five minutes later, but his towering header from a corner was met by a superb reflex save by Hastings, who pushed the ball over the bar after diving to his left.

Hastings, though, was left red-faced early in the second half as Granton doubled their lead in freakish circumstances.

Mark Reid, showing great vision, delivered a booming strike from inside his own half that sailed straight over the ill-positioned Hastings and into the net. Seaforth were on the back foot thereafter, and it was a case of damage limitation for the side that now sits perilously close to the relegation zone in LEAFA's top tier.

Another defensive error allowed Granton to add to their lead just two minutes later.

Seaforth left-back Ryan Mitchell lost his bearings and made a panicked pass infield, straight into the path of Vale attacker Michael McDermid. In the subsequent one-on-one, McDermid easily side-stepped the exposed Hastings.

The error-prone Seaforth defence then proceeded to gift-wrap another Granton goal, Ferguson missing a header to allow the ball to run to Lipscombe, who crossed for Pollock to double his tally with a cheeky right-foot flick past Hastings.

Finally, a goal of their own making completed Granton's 5-0 win, as Kyle Fee's cross from the left was converted by captain Chris Milligan's header.

Distraught Seaforth coach Steven Cameron couldn't hide his disappointment. "We've had a poor season and have been dragged into a relegation fight. The target for us is survival in the league we're in," he said.

Seaforth Highlanders: David Hastings, Liam Robertson, Ryan Mitchell, Ian Buchan, Neil Ferguson, Tommy Allan, Ross Young, Alan Bannon, Alex Smiley, Andrew Cromarty, Brian Love, Chris Moncur, Scott Cameron, Jamie Regan.

Granton Vale: David McKinlay, Gary McKinlay, Kyle Fee, Chris Milligan, Mark Cowan, George Reid, Jason Anderson, Ryan Pollock, Mark Sturgeon, Michael McDermid, Frankie Finlayson, Paul Flynn, Jamie Lipscombe, Mark Reid.