Port Vale 2-1 Cheltenham Town – match report

Port Vale 2-1 Cheltenham Town: To coin a cliché, it was very much a game of two halves as Port Vale put Cheltenham Town to the sword in the second-half at Vale Park.

Manager John Askey named the same team which performed well at Oldham but it was a disjointed first-half display from the Valiants.

Arguably Cheltenham could have been two goals to the good if not for a fine performance from Scott Brown. The former Cheltenham man denied his old side on twelve minutes with a double save from Williams. The same forward was denied again on 34 minutes.

The Valiants lost Cristian Montano to injury on the half-hour mark and their best efforts were a chance for Worrall when the keeper failed to gather and a drive from Amoo which went over just before the break.

Just after the break, the visitors took the lead when Alfie May’s cross found Williams who netted from close range. However, that goal spurred Vale into action as a few minutes later captain Leon Legge powered in his first goal of the season to make it level.

There was still the odd scare for Vale with Scott Brown pulling off another good save from a May cross shot but on 67 minutes the home side deservedly went into the lead when David Worrall got the better of a defender and kept his nerve to net from the edge of the box.

Sub Tom Pope was unlucky not to stretch the lead when his shot from a fine Scott Burgess cross hit the post but the Vale calmly played out the final minutes to record a welcome second win in a row.

It had been an odd display by the Valiants. In the first-half they had looked nothing like the team at Oldham and were grateful for the ever impressive Scott Brown for keeping a clean sheet. But in the second-half, the team came alive with David Worrall and Scott Burgess particularly prominent. Vale fans will wonder which display they will see in their next fixture…

Full-time: Port Vale 2-1 Cheltenham Town