Larkhall 1 Rossvale 6: Zok hits hat-trick for on-form Vale

Chris Zok put the Vale ahead inside the first minute when he headed home from a free-kick from Kirk Forbes.

Rossvale went further ahead three minutes later when Andy Johnstone took the ball into the box and cut back for the on-rushing David Leadbetter to finish off a very good move.

Vale went even further ahead on the 14th minute when Jamie Donnelly’s long clearance went over everyone and bounced between centre-half and keeper. Stephen McGladrigan chased it down, and got between them and placed the ball out of Ryan Cooper's reach to make it 3-0.

Craig Buchanan then took a good pass and laid on great ball over the top for Forbes to run onto but his chip went over the keeper and also the bar, much to the keeper's relief.

McGladrigan was then sent through for a one on one with keeper and delayed his shot to long and allowed Cooper time to turn it away and out for a corner.

At the other end Larkhall won their first corner and Cuthbertson scored from close in with some questionable marking by the Vale defence.

This gave Larkhall more heart and as they settled they came more into the game and making it more difficult for Rossvale forwards by playing offside from halfway line.

Larkhall came close again on the 40th minute when Brunton cut back to Simpson whose shot went narrowly past.

But Vale took the warning, went straight up the park and won a free-kick which Forbes fired over to the back post where Zok was waiting to turn it in and bring the first half to a close with a well deserved 4-1 lead for his team.

Larkhall came out in the second half more organised and put pressure on the Rossvale side and proved that given time they could cause some teams a problem going to their park.

But as the game progressed Vale got back into the game and after a fine run by Johnstone he found Leadbetter but again his shot went narrowly past.

However they didn’t have to wait long to go further ahead. They laid siege to the Larkhall box and with shots being fired in from a number of Vale players and being desperately cleared, a Zok effort hit a Larkhall arm. The referee pointed to the spot and Zok gave Cooper no chance from the penalty.

Rossvale threw on Liam McGonigle and Steven Seaton with 15 minutes to go to give them a runout on the back of their recent injures and the two of them combined almost right away for a sixth goal.

McGonigle tried to chip Cooper from close in but it was blocked but keeper could only direct it to Seaton who drilled it into the empty net to finish off a good day for Rossvale.

Vale now look forward to their second round Sectional League Cup game on Wednesday against Clydebank at Maryhill Juniors.