If ever a game summed up the old cliche of "a game of two halves" then surely this was it, Vale of Clyde raced into a 3-0 half time lead before a second half turnaround saw Arthurlie run out comfortable winners.

An Arthurlie side with 3 personnel changes and a couple more positional shifts fell behind after 20 minutes when a pacy raid down the right wing left Marshall exposed and Mark Gannon fired home from close range. It got worse for the home side a couple of minutes later when a similar move was finished off by Mark McKalay. Arthurlie were struggling to cope with some sparkling play by the visiting midfield and it was little surprise when Vale made it 3-0 just before half time, again the danger came from the right and the ball was swung over to the unmarked Paul McLaughlin and he smashed his shot low into the corner.

To have any hope of an unlikely comeback Arthurlie would have to score early but it was the visitors who almost scored again just after the break but Craig Marshall pulled off a great save. The block turned out to be pivotal as the 'lie got a lifeline minutes later. a wonderful passing move saw Johnston and Bradford link up to lay the ball on a plate for Joe Andrew and he tapped home at the back post. A minute later and it was game on when a clearance was picked up on the edge of the box by John Bradford and he hit an unstoppable left foot volley into the top corner with the keeper helpless. Vale were now on the back foot but it took a controversial penalty to level the scores. John Johnston was enjoying himself just behind the front 2 and he rolled a ball into Bradfords path, the keeper came out to block and made minimal contact with the big striker, the referee saw enough to award the spot kick and John Bradford made no mistake.

Just 5 minutes later Arthurlie took the lead when John Johnston found space in the box and his low drive sent Dunterlie wild. Shell shocked Vale conceded again inside 3 minutes when a Ross Ballantyne corner was missed by the keeper and John Bradford completed his hat trick with a simple back post header. With over 20 minutes remaining it was proving a real hard shift now for the Vale defenders as Arthurlie kept up an incredible attacking show and the forwards linked up again when Joe Andrew headed a cross back across the goal for the on rushing John Johnston and he headed home for his second and Arthurlie's SIXTH. John Bradford should have made it 7 but had too much time in the box and the keeper saved easily. Joe Andrew then had a couple of chances to increase the lead but had his first saved and the second he tried to tee up Johnston but the danger was cleared. A poor tackle on 'lies Paul McLaughlin kicked off a bit of a melee with 10 minutes remaining and the referee sent off the Arthurlie man for retaliation. Arthurlie did make it 7 when Martin Hughes broke free and drew the keeper before slotting low into the net. The game went to ten aside when Vale's Paul McLaughlin joined his namesake in the pavilion when he picked up his second yellow card for diving.

The scoring was completed in this crazy match when Bryan Morrison pounced on a knock down to fire past Marshall.

Arthurlie Marshall, Ballantyne, Orr (Shields 7 , Fabiani, Wardle, P. McLaughlin, G. McLaughlin (Johnston 25), Nicholls (Prow 7 , Andrew, Hughes, Bradford.

thanks to www.arthurlie.com for the report.