Second-from-top Sauchie next up for Vale of Leithen after 7-0 loss to league leaders Linlithgow Rose

Though both teams call the East of Scotland Football League’s premier division home at the moment, that won’t be the case for long as they head in opposite directions – the Innerleithen side, bottom of the table without any points from 24 fixtures, being already confirmed for relegation and Rose, ten points clear at the top on 60 points from the same number of fixtures, looking dead certs for promotion to the Scottish Lowland Football League.

That gulf was reflected in the scoreline of 7-0 run up by the West Lothian outfit at Vale’s Victoria Park home ground, with the hosts possibly just relieved that they weren’t on the wrong end of a double-figure drubbing, as was the case in the reverse fixture in August, the Borderers having lost 10-0 that time round.

Seven different players made it onto the scoresheet for visiting manager Gordon Herd’s side in midweek – Dale Baxter, Jack Ogilvie, Connor McMullan, Sean Heaver, Paul Gillespie, Alan Sneddon and Mark Stowe.

Things aren’t about to get any easier for Vale either as next up is a visit this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 2.30pm, from the only side in with a credible chance of challenging Rose for the title, second-placed Sauchie Juniors, currently on 50 points from 24 fixtures.

Vale were given a bit of a morale boost at the weekend, however, by a 3-0 friendly win at home to Glasgow’s Scoutable United, the hosts’ scorers being Dylan Weldon, Owen Bryce from the penalty spot and Sunny McGrath.

Tuesday’s result came as no surprise to new Vale manager Ian Flynn, overseeing his first competitive game for the Borderers.

“It was exactly what I expected,” he said.

“Linlithgow are a very good team but it was difficult to see how good they were because we weren’t really playing against them an awful lot.

“It was definitely a lightweight against a heavyweight. There’ll not be many teams that beat them.”

Looking back over Saturday’s win, Flynn said he’d been impressed by the effort put in by his side.

“I was a bit surprised at how much they put into winning a friendly but when you lose a lot of games, I suppose you take what you can get,” he said.