Deveronvale recorded one of the surprise results of the season on Saturday by defeating champions Buckie Thistle 3-2 at Victoria Park.
To add to the cheer for Vale supporters was the return of Kevin Adams after three years out with a succession of knee injuries.
The defender, who is equally at home in midfield, endured two cruciate ligament injuries, one in each knee, which required surgery on both occasions and the 26-year-old feared he would have to give up the game.
Adams said: “I was delighted to be given the nod to start on Saturday and it couldn’t have turned out better for me.
“I only knew I was going to be playing about an hour before kick-off due to Matty Wallace not being fit, so I didn’t have much time to think about starting a game again.
“I knew that it would be difficult as Buckie are a quality team, so it was good to get a couple of hard challenges out of the way early in the game, that gave me belief.
“There was a point when I thought I would not make it back but through hard work, support from the club both on and off the pitch, and also from the management team, along with my partner Keira, helped me get back and it was a great feeling.
“Adrenalin helped get me through nearly 75 minutes. I didn’t think I would last that long but now the goal has to be to last the whole 90 minutes and keep my place, it’s one step at a time but Saturday was the big one for me.”
Vale manager Steve Dolan was delighted to see Adams return to action and said: “We could see he was tiring and a bit rusty, but that was to be expected from someone who has only played a couple of hours of under-20s football in nearly three years.
“But I knew I could trust Kevin to go in and do the job he did.
“He will now be looking to force himself back into the team on a regular basis but we have to ensure that we don’t rush him.”
