Fortress walls come crashing

Belgraves 0, Vale Rec 3

BELS like to refer to The Track as 'the fortress'. Well, in their penultimate game of 2006, the Priaulx League champions were overrun and roundly scalped by Chris Hamon's Indians.

For spells in the first half and early in the second, the Vale penalty area resembled the Alamo, but by the end, the yellows were very worthy winners.

Vale Rec ran their socks off, worked as a team and enjoyed the breaks that came their way and virtually everything that could have gone wrong for Bels did.

Had Marc McGrath been sent off in the first minute for a late challenge on island keeper Jody Bisson, as some neutrals were insisting he should have been, indeed everything would have gone wrong for the blue-and-whites.

McGrath, remarkably not even cautioned for leaving a foot in, went on to miss every chance that came his way.

Neil Clegg and Ben Coulter were both helped off with worrying first-half injuries, others plainly looked unfit and too many of the home side did not pull their weight.

Vale might have already scored twice before Robbie Titterington neatly sidefooted Vale ahead on 23 minutes and Laurence Abbott added two late on, by which time Bels were a ragged-looking bunch.

Bels had reason to moan about the tackle from behind by their enforcer, James Coquelin, which put Clegg out of the game with an ankle injury with less than 20min. on the clock and on another day Vale's otherwise splendid reserve defender, Nick Holley, might have been walked for pulling back McGrath when clear.

Unsurprisingly, Hamon praised his Railway centre back to the hilt.

'I thought he was absolutely outstanding. He's a man of heart. We think he's got a broken toe but he still declared himself fit.'

Behind him Bisson was superb and perhaps pumped up by his early knock threw himself everywhere and anywhere to deny the home side for whom young Coulter limped off when his left knee collapsed on him.

The island under-18 star had only just returned after five weeks out with knee problems.

Both Abbott's late clinchers were well taken. The pacy Titterington went past de la Haye in second gear and pulled the ball back for Abbott to finish at the far post and with time nearly up Johnny Rihoy laid the ball on for the no. 10 to expertly place a 10-yard finish high into the corner.