Stevenage 1-1 Port Vale FA Cup second round report – Ojo spot-kick earns Valiants a replay
The Valiants are still in all three cup competitions after late drama in their FA Cup clash with Stevenage, Midfielder Funso Ojo’s calm penalty kick earned the Vale a 1-1 draw.
The headline news in terms of the Vale line-up was the return of Conor Grant after a long injury absence. However, this was tempered by injuries to both loanees Ollie Arblaster and Alfie Devine. Jesse Debrah, James Plant and Rhys Walters came into the starting eleven.
Vale recovered from an early Jason Lowe error with Lowe himself making the recovering challenge. A good ball from Walters set up Conor Grant for an early Vale effort which was saved. However, there was an early blow for Crosby’s side when Plant was forced off with a shoulder injury.
There was also a snapshot from Chislett which went just wide. Vale were then grateful for a fine tackle by Walters to deny Stevenage’s Reid. However, it was a half largely devoid of chances with the home side dominating possession but unable to put the Vale defence under any sustained pressure.
Vale started the second-half brightly with Rhys Walters and Tom Sang prominent. A period of pressure saw Garrity having a goal disallowed for offside.
Stevenage countered with Debrah making a fine saving challenge. However, the home side did take their chance on 70 minutes when top-scorer Jamie Reid found the target. There was drama minutes later when Vale were awarded a penalty when Ikpeazu was brought down in the box. Funso Ojo took the spot-kick and hit the target. It was the midfielder’s third goal of the season.
The Valiants even had a late chance to win it but Debrah’s late header was chalked off for offside. However, they ultimately had to settle for a hard fought draw and a chance of using home advantage to progress in the replay.
Share your thoughts on the game on the forumPort Vale – Ripley – Debrah, Lowe, Smith – Sang, Ojo, Walters (Iacovitti), Grant (Loft) – Plant (Massey), Garrity, Chislett (Ikpeazu)
Subs -Leutwiler, Conlon, Cass, Balmer, Dipepa
Port Vale bookings – Ikpeazu, Loft
Port Vale goal – Ojo (pen) 76
Attendance – 2,491 (553 visitors)