Match Analysis: Port Vale 1-3 Wolves
Get all the post-match reaction from Port Vale’s 1-3 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers with our match report, quotes and post-match stats.
Tom Pope got his first goal of the season late on, but Wolves were victorious on their first visit to Vale Park for 13 years after goals from Leigh Griffiths, Bjorn Sigurdarson and Kevin McDonald earned them all three points.
Micky Adams made one change with midfielder Anthony Griffith coming in for Mohammed and there was a cracking atmosphere as the game kicked off in front of a large crowd at Vale Park.
The opening period was lively without any clear-cut chances as both sides pressed, although there was a blow for Vale on the half-hour mark when Jones was forced off and replaced by Duffy.
The game was generally even until Scottish International Leigh Griffiths opened the scoring for the visitors on 50 minutes with a crisp left-footed finish.
Loft’s header then struck the post as Vale rallied. Then Ikeme made a good save from Dickinson as Vale continued to look for the equaliser. But after those two chances, Wolves doubled their lead on 70 minutes when Griffiths set up Sigurdarson for the visitor’s second goal.
After that second strike, the visitors were comfortable as Vale resorted to too many balls through the middle. Then Wolves wrapped up a comfortable win when the impressive McDonald scored the third with 15 minutes to go.
Late on, Vale did get a consolation goal as first Williamson struck the post and then Pope netted his first of the season in injury time.
One further consolation for Vale was that the attendance of 12,601 was Vale’s biggest since Manchester City’s visit in 1998.
Vale: Neal, Yates, Jones (Duffy), Dickinson, Robertson, Loft, Lines, Griffith, Myrie-Williams (Dodds), Hughes (Williamson), Pope
Subs: Johnson, Birchall, Shuker, Mohammed
Attendance: 12,601 (4,461 away)
“Games like this one won’t define our season. Our season is never going to change from the start against Brentford to our last league game – we are in a fight to stay in the division and are not under any illusions about that.”
– Micky Adams
“It was nice to score three goals, but the boys also deserve a lot of credit for how they defended. Vale put a lot of crosses into our box and we came under a lot of pressure after going 1-0 up. Our centre-halves were very strong and they had to be.”
– Kenny Jackett