Port Vale 3-2 Wigan Athletic report – Chislett hat-trick as Valiants win a five goal thriller
The Valiants put their FA Cup loss behind them as Ethan Chislett scored a hat-trick in a highly entertaining home win over Wigan Athletic at Vale Park.
Manager Andy Crosby again made changes with arguably the most significant seeing captain Nathan Smith dropped for Kofi Balmer.
Vale started the game like a train dominating play and creating a host of chances. A rejuvenated Gavin Massey being prominent. There were chances for Ethan Chislett and Alfie Devine before Chislett found the target on 21 minutes. It came from good play by Jesse Debrah who found Massey and his low cross was converted at close range by Vale’s number ten. There was almost a carbon copy goal from Chislett moments later as Vale continued to impress.
Wigan’s first chance came when Jonny Smith went to ground in the after a challenge by Ripley but it was judged a dive. Instead it was Vale who doubled their lead. Excellent play by Arblaster saw him rob a Wigan player and surge forward. He fed Chislett who half volleyed home his second.
The visitors had their best chance of the half when the dangerous Humphreys broke but his shot went wide and at the break it was Vale who were comfortably ahead.
It was Wigan who dominated the opening minutes without creating any chances before Vale once more came back into it with a string of chances. Alfie Devine played in Garrity but his shot was saved. A Massey cross was headed wide by Chislett then there were chances for Chislett and Devine as Vale pushed for a third. More good play from Massey then set up Arblaster who had volley blocked and the rebound saved.
However Vale suffered a setback on 63 minutes when Balmer made a mistake. Lang surged forward and his cross was driven home by Sze despite Debrah’s attempt to block on the line. The visitors were then extremely lucky to not have a man sent off as sub McManaman pushed Ripley, Balmer and Garrity with each arguably a bookable offence, However, he only got the one yellow card. As the drama continued, there were Wigan appeals for a penalty as Lang went down in the box but it was turned down. Then another mistake by Balmer almost gave Wigan an equaliser but the cross wasn’t converted.
Vale came to life again as they pushed for a third. However, it was the visitors who netted on 77 minutes when McManaman proved too tricky for Sang and his cross was converted by Wyke. Vale countered with a shot by Sang saved. They were then inches away from re-taking the lead. Clever play by sub Loft saw him dummy the ball and Devine’s effort hit the post. Nevertheless, Vale did do that moments later when Chislett moved forward and his deflected shot gave him an excellent hat-trick to make it 3-2 for Vale.
The Valiants had to see out seven minutes of added time and did so relatively comfortably despite the odd scare. It gave them their first home win since September but they made hard work of it!
It was a highly enjoyable game for the neutral in Burslem with some excellent attacking play by Vale. Gavin Massey looks like a different player while the loan duo of Arblaster and Devine were full of art and craft. Despite that, Vale’s defensive issues remain as they let a two goal lead slip – just like in midweek they made it 3-2 only this time they held on to make it two League wins in a row.
Match stats
Port Vale side – Ripley – Debrah, Lowe, Balmer (Iacovitti) – Massey, Ojo (Loft), Arblaster, Grant (Sang) – Chislett, Garrity, Devine
Unused subs – Leutwiler, Smith, Walters, Smith, Ikpeazu
Vale bookings – Devine, Balmer, Massey, Ripley
Vale goals – Ethan Chislett (21, 43, 83)
Our Port Vale man of the match – Arblaster, Devine and Massey all had good games but it has to go to Ethan Chislett for his triple strike.
Attendance – 6,701 (1,330 visitors)