Pope nets three in three mins during friendly win
Striker Tom Pope netted four times including three goals in three minutes as Vale won their rearranged fixture with Athlone Town by five goals to nil.
The match was delayed 24 hours after a waterlogged pitch caused the game to be postponed on Tuesday night. But the surface was deemed playable on Wednesday evening.
The match was goalless at half-time, but a re jigged Vale outfit looked more potent after the break. Pope gave the Valiants the lead on 50 minutes and Dodds made it 2-0 on 52 minutes.
Then Pope netted three times in three minutes in the closing stages with his goals coming on 79, 80 and 81 minutes.
Port Vale first Half: Chris Neal, Adam Yates, Doug Loft, John McCombe, Gareth Owen, Jennison Myrie-Williams, Darren Murphy, Kingsley James, Ryan Lloyd, Tadhg Purcell, Ashley Vincent.
Second Half: Chris Neal, Clayton McDonald, Adam Yates, Joe Davis, Dave Artell, Louis Dodds, Ryan Burge, Sam Morsy, Chris Shuker, Tom Pope, Ben Wiliamson