Port Vale 1-4 Brentford – Harratt scores on his debut as Port Vale exit the FA Cup
Port Vale 1-4 Brentford: new signing Kian Harratt scored on his debut but Vale exited the FA Cup competition after a MBeaumo hat-trick guided Brentford to a comfortable away victory.
Manager Darrell Clarke made numerous changes including a start for keeper Aidan Stone and new loan signing Kian Harratt picked on the bench. There was also the welcome sight of striker James Wilson starting upfront. Three of the nine subs allowed were from the Vale Academy.
The visitors started strongly and largely outplayed the home side in the first-half. However, they only had the one goal to show for it at the break. It came on 22 minutes when Forss struck a powerful shot past Stone. The Valiants were then grateful to Stone and the woodwork for keeping the deficit at just one goal as the visitors had the better of the play.
The Valiants would need to improve their play in the second period if they were to get back in the game against their Premier League opponents.
Half-time: Port Vale 0-1 Brentford
Vale duly lifted their performance in the second period and took the game to Brentford. However, they went 2-0 down somewhat against the run of play when Brentford sub MBeumo scored.
The Valiants pulled a goal back four minutes when sub Harratt scored on his debut with a header following good work from fellow sub Politic. Vale pressed for an equaliser with Worrall going close and Politic missing a one-on-one opportunity before the visitors made the game safe. The impressive MBeaumo made it 3-1 with fourteen minutes remaining. There was time for a late penalty for the visitors when sub Toney was tripped by Benning. MBeaumo calmly converted for his hat-trick.
Despite the scoreline there were some positives for the Valiants notably the second-half performance of man of the match David Worrall, a debut goal for Kian Harratt and the fact that Vale fans were able to watch a match for the first time in a month. Vale can now concentrate on the League for the remainder of the campaign.
Full-time: Port Vale 1-4 Brentford
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Match stats
Port Vale: Stone; Cass, Smith, Martin; Worrall, Pett (Walker), Garrity, Conlon, Gibbons (Benning); Amoo (Politic), Wilson (Harratt)
Subs: Covolan, McDermott, Bailey, Jones, Burgess
Port Vale bookings: None
Attendance: 8,069 (1,126 visitors)