Barrow 3-2 Port Vale – first goals for Paton and Sang but Vale exit the cup

There were first Port Vale goals for Ruari Paton and Tom Sang but the Valiants still exited the League Cup after two late Barrow goals.

Team news

Manager Darren Moore made nine changes from the Salford game with just Jesse Debrah and Ruari Paton keeping their place. There were full debuts for Ben Amos, Kyle John and Benicio.

First-half

Port Vale recovered from conceding an early goal to make it all-square at the break thanks to Ruari Paton’s first goal for the club. The Valiants got off to a terrible start when a throw-in was allowed to cross the box and Garner had the simple task of slotting the ball home. Just 43 seconds had elapsed. It took Vale a while to recover from that, but they eventually wrestled control of the midfield and were good value for their equaliser.

On nine minutes, Paton almost robbed the keeper while Gotts went close for the home side on 19 minutes. There was also a chance for Shorrock who was sent clear but took a heavy touch and his shot was saved.

However, on 22 minutes Benicio, who had been quiet until that point, sprung to life and was responsible for three chances. On 23 minutes a good cross found Ojo whose shot was blocked. On 24 minutes Benicio fed Dipape whose effort was blocked. However, on 25 minutes, Benicio was brought down and Paton converted the free-kick expertly for his first goal.

Vale were nearly caught out at the break when a Campbell shot was touched wide by Amos but it was all-square at the break.

Half-time: Barrow 1-1 Port Vale

Second-half

Tom Sang’s first strike for the club helped the Valiants go in front only for Barrow to re-take the lead and boot the Vale out of the cup.

The Vale could have made it difficult for themselves early on as Barrow had several early chances to re-take the lead in the second period. Firstly, Mahoney should have done better when left unmarked in the area and Vale were then grateful for two shots being deflected over – the second a great block by Debrah.

Sang entered the fray on 62 minutes and four minutes later he had given Vale the lead with a powerful shot from a Ojo cross. However, it turned out to be to no avail.

There was time for a great save from Amos on 68 minutes a the home side countered but the Vale keeper then blotted his copybook when he came for a cross and couldn’t reach it, allowing Acquah the chance to find the net. That goal inspired the home side into a period of pressure and a fantastic strike from Ben Jackson made it 3-2 to the home side. It could have been four but sub Dom Telford put his effort just wide.

To be fair to Barrow that had had the majority of chances in the second-half with Vale’s rejigged defence showing many of the flaws from last season. So, it will be no trip to the League Cup quarter-finals this season for Darren Moore’s side.

Full-time: Barrow 3-2 Port Vale

Final thoughts

In terms of the players, Funso Ojo had a good game and after a quiet start Benicio was responsible for a number of chances before he was forced off injured. It was great to see Paton and Sang open their accounts for the club, but sadly the backline for this game had echoes of last season as it always looked to have a mistake in it.

Our pick of the players: Funso Ojo, Ruari Paton and Jack Shorrock all impressed in patches while Benicio had a brief classy spell before being replaced. It was a game of mixed emotions for Ben Amos who pulled off a couple of good saves but also made a costly error.

What did you think of the Port Vale performance? Share your thoughts and post a comment below.