Port Vale 3-0 Leyton Orient
An impressive second-half performance gave Vale all three points against ten man Leyton Orient.
Rob Page made two changes with Jordan Slew and Chris Birchall coming into the side. But Vale put on a lacklustre first-half display that was notable for the dismissal of Darius Henderson for a blatant elbow on Richard Duffy.
Vale did threaten at times – Chris Lines hit the woodwork and Jordan Slew had a goal disallowed for offside- but the loss of Pope upfront meant that the ball wasn’t sticking upfront and so Vale were unable to put together any concerted pressure.
However, Page was proactive and made changes at half-time, bringing on Dany N’Guessan for the lacklustre Slew and finally Remie Streete for Dickinson, who had picked up a knock.
The changes worked wonders for Vale. Streete was a picture of coolness and calm at the back, McGivern looked comfortable on the left and Williamson came to life.
However, the first goal came from unlikely source when Adam Yates hit a drive high into the net for his fifth Vale career goal.
Minutes later, a classy finish from Ben Williamson made the result safe and the Vale win was wrapped up with an own-goal from an O’Connor free-kick.
There was an impressive performance from several players – Lines, O’Connor and Streete – while Rob Page will be grateful that the side finally managed to record a clean sheet as well.
Vale: Neal, Yates, Duffy, McGivern, Dickinson (Streete), Marshall, Lines, O’Connor, Birchall, Slew (N’Guessan), Williamson
Subs: Johnson