Martin shone in his new role as central defender

DARREN MARTIN stands just a few inches over 5ft tall. But his presence was immense at the Corbet Field on Wednesday night.

In the absence of Michael Wilson, I had assumed Ben Duff would be lining up alongside Stuart Polson in the centre of North's defence for the Stranger Cup final.

Instead, it was Martin who made a little-and-large partnership with his captain and, more remarkably, it was he who took the lead role as organiser in chief to allow Polson to stick to Gareth Holden.

He took to his new role like a duck to water, putting a barely foot wrong and marshalling his troops with the authority of a veteran.

Admittedly, the match generally lacked quality going forward, but to watch a novice centre back put in such a confident display in a big cup final against neighbouring rivals was a delight.

For Vale Rec, James McColl produced a performance in much the same mould as Martin's - calm, composed and assured both in his defensive duties and on the ball.

The Scot certainly did not deserve to finish on the losing side and the man-of-the-match award was a tough call between the two.

Unfortunately, rather than two fine individual performances, the match will be remembered for one controversial incident.

There was no malicious intent when Gavin Le Page caught Tony Manning with his high boot, but the dangerous nature of the challenge was there for all to see on the Vale Rec man's bleeding head.

Chris Hamon and the rest of the green-and-yellow contingent, perhaps with the exception of the dazed Manning, were left fuming that the North midfielder did not receive his marching orders.

The chocolate-and-blues argued that he was going for the ball.

They were correct in that assessment, but it was reckless and you can bet your bottom dollar that had the boot been on the other foot, or head, tempers would have flared in the North dugout.

In the end, though, it is all swings and roundabouts. Only one man's judgement mattered and, unlike the majority present, referee Mark Le Tissier felt it unnecessary to discipline Le Page with a card.

And, despite his obvious anger at that decision, how did the Rec coach finish his post-match media interview? In typical Hamon fashion - honest and straightforward.

'We had our opportunities to score and we did not score, so perhaps we did not deserve anything.'

Now we have something else to ponder on: specifically, how long will it be before we see ?back in competitive action Trim Morgan, who wore the 16 shirt as an unused substitute on Wednesday?

Let's hope, for entertainment's sake, it is not too long.