Accrington 2-2 Port Vale – late show as Valiants snatch a point at the death

Late goals from Jayden Stockley and sub Antwoine Hackford saw the Valiants snatch an unlikely point despite being 2-0 down at the end of ninety minutes.

Team news

Manager Darren Moore unsurprisingly named an unchanged line-up for this game. It meant that defensive duo Jesse Debrah and Connor Hall were both fit to start. Ronan Curtis made the bench after missing out for the home game against Chesterfield while Ben Heneghan provided defensive cover.

First-half

A poor first-half performance saw Vale trailing by two goals at the break. Accrington veteran Shaun Whalley opened the scoring with an excellent goal while Donald Love headed in a second just before the break.

It was a below par Vale performance with the side again looking shaky at the back and devoid of clearcut chances upfront.

For the first half-hour it was a mostly even affair. In a tightly contested game, there was little space on offer and both sides were reduced to half-chances. Whalley saw an ambitious shot go over for the home side while there were efforts from Chislett and Tolaj for the Valiants which were both comfortably saved.

As the half progressed, Accrington started to push on their left flank which left Brandon Cover exposed. Whalley had nearly scored from an effort moments earlier, when he was left unmarked on the edge of the box, but he made no mistake on 29 minutes. Chislett failed to clear, the ball broke to Whalley who beat Cover and then curled an excellent shot around Ripley. It could have been more but Mooney miskicked from close range and Rawson missed another effort.

Vale failed to respond to that opener and the backline looked increasingly error-prone. That came to the fore on 42 minutes when Vale conceded a needless corner and Donald Love was left unmarked to head home. The Vale team left the pitch to a chorus of boos from the visiting supporters.

Half-time: Accrington 2-0 Port Vale

Second-half

The Valiants snatched a point in dramatic circumstances as they scored twice in added time to snatch a point.

For most of the half, Vale, despite a host of changes, fail to put Accrington under any sustained pressure as the home side sought to see out their 2-0 interval lead.

The Valiants brought on players at the break as they looked to turn things around. Ryan Croasdale and Ben Heneghan came on for Benicio and Chislett. The latter was a surprise as the midfielder had been one of the brighter performers in the first-half. Vale switched to three at the back with Garrity moved to an advanced role ahead of Croasdale and Byers while Tolaj and Stockley formed a front two.

However, the Valiants were still struggling to make headway and put Accrington under sustained pressure. The first opportunity came to Byers who saw an effort blocked. Hall and Stockley then both headed over from Vale corners. Meanwhile Accrington saw a long-range shot from Batty saved.

The Valiants finally got a goal back when Stockley bravely headed in from close range after Croasdale put the ball into the box. It came on 90 minutes.  There was a further chance as the game entered added time but it just evaded Stockley’s head. However, a late period of pressure saw Vale level things in the 95th minute when sub Antwoine Hackford fired home from close range to level the scores. It was the youngster’s first goal in a Vale shirt.

There were celebrations at the end but the fiery finish should not overshadow what was a generally poor display and result by Darren Moore’s side. Despite that, a point will be warmly received by the Vale fans.

Full-time: Accrington 2-2 Port Vale

Final thoughts:

It was a poor away performance by the Valiants who were mostly unrecognisable from the last two matches. It was only in the final ten minutes that the visitors looked more like themselves and put the home side under siege.

The game certainly wasn’t helped by yet more poor League Two officiating, but that wasn’t the reason for the poor display. Unlike the last two games Vale were unable to get on the front foot and put Accrington’s defence under sustained pressure until the closing stages. Too often Vale attacks were quickly cut out in a tightly contested midfield and there was little penetration in Vale’s play with barely a clear cut chance on offer.

Credit Vale for their late rally but for most of this game this was too insipid, too shot shy from the Vale and although the Vale did snatch a point, they will need to do much better than this over the whole course of a game.

Pick of the players: 

It’s difficult to single out a Vale performance for praise. This wasn’t a game for Benicio, who could have been struggling with injury anyway, and he was rightly subbed at the break. Byers showed some nice touches while Cover was energetic albeit often exposed on the right. Accrington looked to target that flank in the first-half and the likes of Benicio gave the Leicester loanee little cover. It may have been a risk too far to start with both Debrah and Hall, who both looked short of full fitness, and Vale’s backline looked shaky as a result.

On the positive side, Jayden Stockley once again found the net while it was great to see youngster Hackford come on an make a difference with his first goal. Despite those late goals, it wasn’t a day for any particularly memorable player performances.

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