Ben Waine was on target but a home draw was probably not enough for the Valiants. Here’s our match report.
Team News
Port Vale manager Jon Brady made a number of changes from the side which beat Northampton Town with most of them enforced. Ben Heneghan was missing through concussion so Jordan Gabriel came into the side. Liam Gordon replaced loanee Elijah Campbell on the left while Rhys Walters started in central midfield. Ben Waine came in for the ineligible Ethon Archer while George Hall started in place of Martin Sherif.
Sherif was on the bench alongside Jaheim Headley, Grant Ward and Tyler Magloire who were all recalled to the matchday squad.
Rhys Walters – started
First-half
New Zealand International Ben Waine gave Port Vale a deserved equaliser in a half marred by some bizarre decisions by the match officials.
In a lively start, Luton had the first chance which was punched away by Gauci while Vale saw a good run by Hall ended by a save from the keeper.
However, it was the visitors with the early goal. Vale failed to stop a right hand cross and Nahki Wells snuck between Connor Hall and Liam Gordon to touch the ball over the line. With five minutes played, Vale were trailing.
Nevertheless, George Hall looked up to the task with a lively first-half display. Just a minute after the goal he saw a run ended in the box but rather than a penalty the referee booked Hall for diving. It was the first of a number of baffling decisions including another where the Luton keeper came out to barge Hall over but bizarrely the visitors were given the free-kick.
Awful decisions aside, Vale continued to press. More good work from Hall saw a couple of Vale shots blocked while from a rare Luton attack, Lawrence blazed over. Gauci also tipped over a Longwijk header as Luton continued to threaten on the break.
The Valiants equalised on 29 minutes and again Hall was prominent. Gauci’s kick was flicked on by Stockley and Hall produced a lovely touch to send Waine through on goal. The Kiwi striker made no mistake to level the scores.
However, while Hall was impressing, Gauci was looking shaky at the back . On 34 minutes he came rushing out of his area when there was no need to do so. Luton should really have taken advantage but didn’t do so.
That was the final moment of a first-half which saw it level at the break.
Half-time: Port Vale 1-1 Luton Town
Ben Waine – on target
Second-half
Neither side could add to their goal tally as it ended in a frustrating draw at Vale Park.
Luton had the early pressure but with no clearcut opportunities. However, Vale had a golden opportunity to take the lead on 56 minutes. George Hall won a free-kick and when he took it, Stockley met it with a great header but the keeper produced a fine save. There were further opportunities for Vale with Waine breaking on 63 minutes but he couldn’t find anyone with his cross. Next to threaten was sub Andre Gray but he lacked the pace to break clear when he was found.
There was another great opportunity on 86 minutes. Luton had just forced a good save from Gauci when Vale attacked and sub Sherif’s strong curling shot was well saved again.
That was the end of the action as Vale were forced to settle for a draw.
Full-time: Port Vale 1-1 Luton Town
Jayden Stockley – header saved
Analysis and Opinion
The match
The weather was nice, the pitch was awful, the match officials were worse. Vale battled away but could not find that crucial winning goal. A draw is not really enough for their League One survival but kudos to the team for the effort put in.
The players
George Hall had an impressive game on the left and caused Luton’s backline all sorts of problems. Waine took his goal well. Funso Ojo and Rhys Walters did well in the engineroom. Jayden Stockley battled hard upfront. However, Gauci was once again a mixed bag – some good saves but one moment of madness that went unpunished. Simarly, Liam Gordon’s defensive attributes don’t match his attacking ones and he was one of the players responsible for Luton’s opener.
Star player
George Hall
Summing up in a sentence
Frustrating draw for Vale.
Match stats
Team: Gauci – John, Humphreys, C.Hall Gordon – Gabriel, Walters (Shipley), Ojo, G.Hall (Sherif) – Stockley (Gray), Waine
Subs: Amos, Headley, Grant, Magloire
Yellows: G.Hall, Humphreys, Waine
Reds: none
Goals: Waine (29)
Attendance: 7,335 (1,168 visitors)
Season stats
Your thoughts…
Debate the match on the dedicated match thread in the OVF forum
Or scroll down and post your comment at the bottom of this match report
One point not enough to put a dent into the deficit for points safety, but Brady seems to have his team playing with improved organization and confidence. A draw against a useful Luton side is a decent result. The club’s virtually hopeless league position is galling when you consider the prolonged delay in dismissing Darren Moore who had been operating on empty for weeks. Another useful away following, but given the circumstances home attendances still hold up well with a gate of 7,335. How the club’s likely relegation affects pre season ticket sales will indicate how many “fair weather” supporters the club has.
I’m taking all the positives out of the game. Great effort from the lads most bottom of the sides would have given up going behind so early but we didn’t we battled hard and I would argue we deserved all 3 points against a very good side still with ambitions of making the play offs. There’s no point keep referring to lost points in the relegation battle when we don’t win, there is no relegation battle we were down ages ago. The focus should be on the improved players performance a much better manager in charge and going into pre season and next season with a positive determined attitude. Once again Vale fans superb. UTV.
Yet another opportunity wasted to claw our way back into contention. We are just nowhere near good enough, and unless things do improve drastically League two may not be any easier. As I’ve said before, Brady has in away had the rug pulled from beneath him in loosing the experienced Cole and Curtis. Other than the energy and commitment levels nothing else has really improved. Set pieces are still shocking, defensively it’s a case of get rid, no one at the back seems to have any composure. I’m not going to blame anyone but the owners for yet another diabolical season. They’ve done on Brady what they did on Crosby given him a near impossible job to do without the tools to do it.