Birmingham City 0-1 Port Vale – Headley’s header puts Valiants into the third round

There was a second round cup upset at St Andrews as Darren Moore’s Port Vale side upset Championship outfit Birmingham City on Tuesday night.

First-half

Jaheim Headley’s header gave Vale a shock half-time lead at St Andrews as the Valiants overcame a shaky start to have the better of the chances in the first 45 minutes.

It took nearly 30 minutes for Vale to muster an attempt on target. In the meantime, Birmingham had been piling on the pressure in the early stages. Lewis Koumas had an effort go wide and another deflected while Leonard had a drive deflected.

However, when Vale did kick into gear they started looking dangerous from every set-piece. Mo Faal was denied on two occasions with headers while Ryan Croasdale put another wide. Cameron Humphreys had a deflected effort from a free-kick before another corner led to Vale taking the lead.

The corner itself was cleared but good work from Rhys Walters set Ryan Croasdale free on the right and his cross was headed home by Headley on 43 minutes.

It was ironic that, despite those chances, Vale had had still to soak up lots of pressure but, no doubt to Joe Gauci’s relief, there was little in the way of shooting chances for the Blues.

It was potentially a cup upset at the break.

Half-time: Birmingham City 0-1 Port Vale

Second-half

Vale held firm and may even have added a second through Ronan Curtis as they recorded a welcome cup upset.

Birmingham responded by making three changes including striker Jay Stansfield while Vale brought on Kyle John for Humphreys. Vale keeper Gauci almost undid all the good work on 48 minutes when he dithered with a back-pass and was intercepted. Fortunately it went wide.

The home side looked to up the pressure but with 55 minutes gone, Vale were holding firm and working hard to remain in front. However, it did mean Vale’s chances dried up as they moved to a more defensive footing. A clearly tiring Mo Faal was then replaced by Ruari Paton on 56 minutes.

Vale started to threaten on the hour mark when they forced a couple of corners. Moments later, sub Paton found the net from a Debrah long throw but it was ruled out for an infringement. A Curtis free-kick then found Headley but his low drive was blocked. Apart from that mistake by Gauci, Birmingham had not really threatened until Gabriel’s back pass was short on 65 minutes but the Vale keeper was able to gather.

The Vale nearly made it two when Walters’ superb run set up Curtis but his drive went inches wide of the post on 67 minutes. Vale brought on Mitch Clark on 68 minutes after Gabriel had landed heavily on his shoulder. Birmingham were next to threaten when sub Stansfield narrowly missed connecting with a cross.

With twenty minutes to go, Birmingham started to force some corners of their own. Vale were not always comfortable clearing them but did enough to clear their lines. Meanwhile, Moore’s men were looking dangerous on the break and full of running.

A tiring Headley was replaced by Ben Garrity on 76 minutes with Vale still looking strong. Meanwhile, home side Birmingham had made five changes but were unable to break the visitor’s resolve. However, the home side were upping the pressure. They came close on 78 minutes when Cashin’s powerful drive was deflected wide.

On 83 minutes, Garrity’s strong run forced another Vale corner. From Curtis’ delivery Heneghan headed just over. The home side upped the pressure in the closing minutes but Vale held firm to record a cup upset.

Full-time: Birmingham City 0-1 Port Vale