Port Vale 1-3 Swindon Town – Covolan sees red as ten man Valiants crash at home

Port Vale 1-3 Swindon Town: Darrell Clarke’s side were well beaten by a Swindon Town match after the game turned on an incident which saw goalkeeper Lucas Covolan dismissed.

Clarke made several changes to his starting eleven including three debuts – for Connor Hall, Chris Hussey and Kian Harratt but it was the visitors who had the best of the opening exchanges.

Swindon duly took the lead when former Valiant Harry McKirdy played in Jonny Williams on twenty minutes. The Welsh International made no mistake as he scored past Covolan.

However, Vale equalised on 26 minutes against the run of play. Kian Harratt made it two goals in two games for the club when he scored from a powerful effort.

It looked be heading for a draw going into the break but in the dying seconds Covolan challenged McKirdy with what the referee deemed to be a high and dangerous challenge. Covolan was dismissed for the second time this season and replacement Aidan Stone was powerless to stop Ben Gladwin scoring from the resulting penalty kick.

Vale’s ten men faced a tough challenge to draw level in the second period and the game was put out of their reach when McKirdy’s effort was deflected in off Nathan Smith on 69 minutes. It could have even been worse for the Valiants but Tyrese Campbell’s chip over Aidan Stone went wide.

It was clearly a bad day at the office for Darrell Clarke’s side with too many players looking off the pace. They will be keen to bounce back and show their promotion credentials when they take on Salford City on Tuesday night.

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