Port Vale 0-1 Walsall: captain Tom Conlon was controversially sent-off as poor refereeing and a win for old foes Walsall made it a night to forget in Burslem.
Valiants manager Darrell Clarke made two changes to his starting line-up bringing in Dennis Politic and Nathan Smith, while fit again Jamie Proctor made the bench.
However, Vale put on one of their worst 45 minutes performances in the first-half. Opponents Walsall dominated the play as Vale mistimed passes. There were two early chances for Connor Wilkinson, one producing a good save from Covolan before the home side had had a shot on target.
The Valiants did have chances but normally reliable performers were not having their best games. A defensive slip let in David Worrall but he opted to pass rather than shoot and his cross was blocked. That move prompted a brief period of Vale pressure but the bubble was burst when Kiernan broke into space and his shot beat Covolan to put the visitors ahead on 30 minutes.
Vale’s cause wasn’t being helped by a poor refereeng decision with a whistle-happy official in charge. However, much of their poor play was of their own making with the normally reliable Cass and Jones misplacing passes, Pett and Conlon kept quiet and the front two of Amoo and Politic not producing much of a goal threat.
The Valiants did at least threaten again as the half drew to a close. Gibbons set up Politic but his weak shot was saved, while good play by Amoo set up Garrity for a shot which went over. However, as the game entered the interval, Walsall were good value for their lead.
Half-time: Port Vale 0-1 Walsall
Clarke made a double change at the break and Vale looked a little brighter but were unable to put together any real periods of pressure. Walsall were managing the game well but there was also some awful officiating by the referee as numerous innocuous challenges resulted in stoppages in play.
A Tom Pett strike was deflected wide after good work from Benning and as Vale pushed they brought on Proctor to try and force an equaliser. However, it all looked over when captain Conlon was dismissed for a challenge that didn’t seem to warrant a yellow card. The Vale captain did catch a Walsall player with a high boot, but it looked more accidental than malicious.
Credit to opponents Walsall who were the better side on the night but no credit is due to the match officials who were among the worst to be seen at Vale Park this season. There were some shocking decisions.
However, the blame cannot be solely placed on the shoulders of the ref. Too many Vale players had off days with passes going astray and with the Valiants possessing little goal threat. Opponents Walsall did what Vale have done on numerous occasions this season as they “managed” the game through injuries and numerous stoppages to take up time.
It will be a very frustrated Vale side who will attempt to turn around their form on Saturday against Hartlepool United.
Full-time: Port Vale 0-1 Walsall
What did you think of the Port Vale performance? Scroll down and post a comment at the end of the article.
Match Stats
Port Vale: Covolan: Cass, Smith, Jones (Benning); Worrall (Rodney), Garrity, Pett (Proctor), Conlon, Gibbons; Amoo, Politic
Subs: Stone, Legge, Martin, Walker
Port Vale bookings: Gibbons, Smith
Port Vale sending-off: Conlon
Attendance: 6,248
That must rate as Vale’s worst match of the season. Lifeless, no attacking plan or ideas and some really bad passing. Even Worrall didn’t seem to know what to do – he was twice clear to have a good shot at goal and refused to make any attempt to do so.
I have no wish to be hyper-critical but at the moment they do seem to be all at sea. 3 poor games on the trot, Bradford, Oldham and Walsall.
Come on Vale – you are a better side than your recent performances. UTV.
As a Walsall fan I’d like to say it’s inevitable, & understandable that we should see things from a different perspective but I’d like to make two hopefully balanced points 1) I’d give Walsall more credit for closing down the Vale players rushing them into poor passing etc 2) The pattern for Clarke at Walsall was – change the team every match – change the formation every match sometimes several times in a match – blame the players after the match . It was like history repeating itself watching Vale last night . We would not swop Matty Taylor for Clarke. It would be great to see both clubs go up this season as the rivalry is great .