Port Vale 0-1 Scunthorpe Utd – match report
Port Vale 0-1 Scunthorpe Utd: It was the same old story for sorry Port Vale as once again the lack of a final product saw them lose at home to Scunthorpe United.
Manager John Askey made two changes to the side which lost to Tranmere Rovers at the weekend. Mark Cullen started upfront in place of Tom Pope while Manny Oyeleke came in for the suspended Manny Oyeleke.
It was a familiar story for the first-half as Vale dominated possession, looked comfortable on the ball and shows good skills but all without creating any clearcut chances. Scunthorpe made the Valiants pay when they broke down the left-hand side and Eisa cut inside to curl a glorious effort past Scott Brown. To give credit to Scunthorpe it was a superb goal on the break.
The Valiants had looked decent in the opening 45 minutes but again without any end product. Manny Oyeleke had given the midfield another dimension as he powered through the centre but too often Mark Cullen was an isolated figure in the centre.
In the second period, Tom Conlon drove over and John Askey made an early change as he brought on Montano for Crookes. Cullen blazed wide and then Oyeleke was the next to have a chance but he lost his balance in the box.
Vale then had a miraculous escape as Ryan Loft broke clear. He powered his shot against a post but with another United player running in, the ball fortunately bounced straight into Scott Brown’s arms.
The Valiants brought on Devante Rodney and Harry McKirdy with the latter immediately looking lively. On 65 minutes, Montano and Worrall linked up well to set Rodney free. His ball found Mark Cullen but he scuffed his shot wide. Vale then won a free-kick in a promising position but Tom Conlon’s effort went over.
Haowever, as the half went on it became dispiriting second-half performance from the Valiants as they looked short of ideas. However, there was late drama. Firstly, the Valiants had a strong penalty claim when McKirdy’s effort appeared to be blocked by a hand in the box. Then McKirdy netted from close range but the referee disallowed the goal. After that late winner on Saturday, this was another game where perhaps the luck didn’t go Port Vale’s way but ultimately this Port Vale side didn’t do enough to win the game.
It was a hugely disappointing night.
Full-time: Port Vale 0-1 Scunthorpe Utd
Port Vale: Brown – Clark, Legge, Smith, Crookes (Montano) – Oyeleke, Conlon, Burgess (McKirdy) – Worrall, Cullen, Amoo (Rodney)
Subs: Visser, Brisley, Fitzpatrick, Pope