Rossvale promotion hopes hit by defeat at Kilsyth Rangers

The loss left them in fifth place, five points adrift of Arthurlie in the third and final promotion spot, albeit still with two games in hand on the Barrhead side.

It started brightly for Vale. In the 10th minute Liam McGonigle's corner was met at the front post by Gary McMenamin who backheaded it into the middle of the goal and found Matt Niven but his effort was cleared off the line.

McGonigle tried an overhead kick to put them back under pressure which again got put out for another corner.

However Kilsyth then took grip of the game by playing long balls and from a resultant one they won a free-kick just inside the Vale half.

Jack Harrison fired a long high ball deep into the box and Salim Kouider-Aissa outjumped the Vale defence unchallenged to bullet in a powerful header and put Kilsyth ahead.

Eight minutes later Harrison crossed another high ball into the penalty area and again Kouider-Aissa was found unmarked to power a header into the roof of the net and put Kilsyth two up.

This set the pattern of the game with Kilsyth firing in long ball after long ball only for the Vale defence to clear their lines straight back to them.

Just before half-time Stephen McGladrigan laid on a cross ball for McGonigle to have a shot from the edge of the 18-yard box but it wa scharged down by the Kilsyth defence.

Four minutes later McGonigle got in another shot from the edge of the box but David Tait had the easiest of saves to make.

But seven minutes into the second period Vale found themselves three down.

Kouider-Aissa had his shot saved by Jamie Donnelly but he chased down the rebound and crossed the ball back into the middle of the box where Drew Wingate made no mistake from eight yards.

Rossvale got a glimmer of hope in the 63rd minute when Liam Crichton got onto the end of a Chris Duff free-kick and scored after a mistake by the keeper.

For the next 10 minutes Rossvale came to life and mounted attack after attack with some hope that they would pull themselves back into the game.

But that was dashed in the 78th minute when Danny Smith stole in at the back post to smash in yet another goal.

With the Vale pressing to get into the game and pushing everyone forward Kilsyth broke upfield and Anton McDowell took out a Kilsyth player at the halfway line, earning him a red card and rounding off a miserable night for the Bishopbriggs side.