Fleetwood 3-0 Port Vale report – truly awful Valiants are well beaten at bottom side Fleetwood

Port Vale are poor at the back, have little squad depth and are lacking any goal threat. This was yet another awful performance by the Valiants saw them comfortably beaten by bottom side Fleetwood on Saturday afternoon.

Team news

Andy Crosby rang the changes after the home loss to Portsmouth. Ryan Loft replaced the injured Uche Ikpeazu and partnered James Wilson upfront. Jesse Debrah returned to the back three, Jason Lowe moved to central midfield in place of Dan Gore who didn’t make the squad. On the bench were vice captain Funso Ojo, returning from injury plus new loan signings Alex Mighten and Kacpa Lopata.

First-half

It was an awful start for the Valiants as the home side scored from their first chance. A move down the right wing saw a powerful shot parried by Ripley but it fell to Jayden Stockley who slotted home to make it 1-0 after eight minutes. There was another chance for the home side as the Vale defence looked error-prone in the opening stages.

However, Vale countered with a chance for Jenson Weir that was blocked after good work from Loft and Chislett. But apart from that, chances were few and far apart in the opening twenty minutes. This was much to the disquiet of the travelling fans who wanted to see more of a threat from their side.

Things livened up for Vale when they thought they had levelled on 25 minutes. Jesse Debrah found the target after a penalty box scramble but it was disallowed for a foul. Vale then had a free-kick from Conor Grant deflected over and then another free-kick from Ethan Chislett was just too high.

However, Vale almost got caught again when the defence was breached once again and the ball found Stockley, who fortunately mis-kicked from close range. There was another let off as Macadam broke but he missed the target under pressure from Iacovitti. Nevertheless, Vale entered the break a goal down and with lots to do.

It had been another disappointing 45 minutes by the Vale. The defence looked error-prone, with Fleetwood looking to target Iacovitti and getting past him on several occasions, the midfield looked disjoined and the attack looked toothless. Ethan Chislett was probably the best of a sorry bunch as he combined skill with effort but there were too many other sub-par performances on display.

Half-time: Fleetwood 1-0 Port Vale

Second-half

Vale made a double change at the break – Mighten and Ojo coming on for Debrah and Wilson. It saw Vale revert to a back four with Lowe at right-back, Smith and Iacovitti in the middle and Grant on the left.

There was an early opportunity for Mighten to show blistering pace as Vale forced an early corner. The Valiants looked lively for a brief spell with Chislett’s shot, following good work from Weir, saved.

There were some industrial challenges from Fleetwood on Loft and Ripley and Vale were grateful that the keeper recovered as he quickly pulled off a fine save from Lawal’s powerful shot. However, Fleetwood were on top and Lawal’s powerful run into the box was converted by Coughlan from close range to make it 2-0 on 65 minutes.

There were chants against director of football David Flitcroft from the Vale fans as frustrations grew in the away end.

There was one chance for the Valiants as Mighten looked to be tripped in the box but the referee wasn’t convinced. In fact, it could have been worse but for Connor Ripley. Firstly, Coughlan’s effort was saved then the hapless Iacovitti lost the ball allowing Stockley a great opportunity but Ripley saved again. However, Fleetwood got the third goal they deserved when Broom scored in stoppage time.

It capped a dreadful afternoon for Port Vale.

Full-time: Fleetwood 3-0 Port Vale

Closing thoughts

This was a scrappy game of low quality by both sides but Fleetwood comfortably edged it by more determined, powerful play and creating more scoring chances.

While there’s been a lot of criticism of Vale’s forward options, it was once again the defence and needless mistakes which caught the eye during this game. In the first-half, the back three were breached several times with ease by the bottom side while some of the playing out from the back only resulted in the Valiants putting themselves into trouble. The score could arguably have been more but for saves by Ripley as Vale couldn’t cope with some physical Fleetwood attacks.

To be fair, Ethan Chislett was lively at times, it was also great to see Funso Ojo return and Connor Ripley pulled off some good saves. But there were simply too many below par performances from the other players and Vale definitely deserved to lose.

Wingback Conor Grant continues to disappoint but Vale’s only other option is the raw Jack Shorrock. Alex Iacovitti was targeted by pacey runners in the first-half and struggled throughout while Nathan Smith’s distribution continues to be poor.

As more subs were thrown on, Vale tried to switch to a more attacking formation but there looks to be no goals in this side. The much maligned Ryan Loft battled but didn’t look a goal threat, loanee Alex Mighten doesn’t look to be a central forward, James Wilson couldn’t last the ninety minutes while Baylee Dipepa is young and inexperienced. It’s looking grim upfront.

These are worrying times as the club slip closer to the relegation zone. Will they rue not adding more quality during the transfer window? Judging by the multiple chants directed at David Flitcroft the fans definitely think so!