Never mind the quality, enjoy the thrills and spills as Vale came from behind to secure their second win in a row. Here’s our match report…
Team news
Darren Moore made two changes from the side which defeated Doncaster with Kyle John and Sam Hart coming into the back three at the expense of Ben Heneghan and Connor Hall. Recent signings Nathan Broome and Jemiah Omolu were named on the bench.
First-Half
It was a poor first forty five minutes for the Valiants as two defensive mistakes resulted in Newport goals. It could have been more with the visitors dominating the midfield.
The game started dramatically and Hackford should have done better when he robbed the keeper in the first minute. The visitors took charge after that and after Evans had hit the post on nine minutes they took the lead on eleven minutes. Lowe missed his header from a Newport corner and Kamwa headed in from close range.
Vale did come to life on 21 minutes. There were chances for Headley, Garrity and Croasdale before the Vale skipper equalised. It came on 29 minutes from close range following a Headley corner.
The Vale fans were outraged on 31 minutes when Ciaran Brennan looked to have handballed when Hackford was breaking clear but the referee, who was jeered throughout by the home fans, gave nothing.
Poor defending gave the visitors the lead on 33 minutes when Cameron Evans headed home a free-kick with his marker Sam Hart beaten.
Vale had further chances for Croasdale, Hackford and Headley but there were also chances for Newport with Amos pulling off two fine saves in the closing stages. Vale were trailing at the break and to be fair to the visitors, they had been the better side in the first-half.
Half-time: Port Vale 1-2 Newport County
Second-Half
It was a much better second-half display as the Valiants scored twice to take all three points and re-establish their promotion challenge.
Darren Moore’s half-time substituions (Harper coming on for Lowe and Stockley for Hackford) did the trick for the Vale as Harper secured the midfield and Stockley’s physicality put Newport’s defence under pressure.
Both sides saw shots go over (Croasdale for Vale and Evans for Newport) in the early stages before an excellent Nathan Smith block on Whitmore prevented the visitors making it 3-1. The chance came after miscommunication between Harper and Hart.
The Vale equaliser came just after the hour mark. Lorent Tolaj did well on the right and delivered a cross which Smith nodded down for Jayden Stockley to score from close range. It was now game on.
The Valiants continued to press and Mitch Clark saw a deflected effort go wide while Stockley had another saved. It was home debutant Jaheim Headley who finally found the back of the net on 76 minutes as his low shot beat the goalkeeper.
Vale could have had more in the closing stages. Nathan Smith saw an effort saved on the line while the hard-working Tolaj saw another go over. Meanwhile, Kyle Jameson, sent off in the fixture in Wales, saw red late on for the visitors for a second bookable offence.
So, all three points for the Vale, but by no means a perfect performance. The second-half display showed the importance of Stockley upfront while fellow subs Harper and Sang also did well.
Full-time: Port Vale 3-2 Newport County
Summary
The negatives – Vale were lethargic in the first-half, both Newport’s goals came from defensive mistakes and it was also noticeable how much space the visitors were given in midfield in the first-half.
A word on the referee who was dreadful. To list just two of his mistakes – he missed a clear handball and he gave a foul against Vale when the Vale player had been bodychecked.
Finally, the positives. Darren Moore’s changes did make a difference. Vale looked far more dangerous in the second-half and were probably, despite a poor first-half, good value for the win.
Players
Both wingbacks did well. Mitch Clark was full of running but Jaheim Headley, especially after his winning strike, was arguably Vale’s best performer.
Now, the negatives. John impressed when attacking but struggled at the back. Sam Hart also had one of his poorest games for the club. Jason Lowe looked miles off the pace too while Antwoine Hackford is too lightweight upfront.
There were typically hard-working performances from starters Ben Garritty, Nathan Smith and Ryan Croasdale but for this game it was the second-half changes which galvanised the side.
Moore’s subs also made a big difference. Hackford, Lowe and Hart were all off the boil and replacements Stockley, Harper and Sang improved the side.
Stats
Starting XI: Amos – John, Smith, Hart (Sang) – Clark, Croasdale, Lowe (Harper), Headley – Garrity – Tolaj (Curtis), Hackford (Stockley)
Subs: Broome, Heneghan, Umolu
Goals: Garrity (29), Stockley (62), Headley (76)
Bookings: Croasdale, Smith
Attendance: 6,354 (233 visitors)
Competition: League Two
What did you think of the game and the performance? Scroll down and submit a comment.
Gritty , Scrappy game . Happy 4 Garrity and Clarke. Sang stood out after he came on . Onwards and upwards. .
A game of 2 half’s. Awfully poor first half and much better in the 2nd. Thought Stockley was immense and shout out to Clark, Hedley and Tolaj .Said in last game Lowe was superb, today hopeless. Hart is a worse version of Dan Jones, enough said. 3 points and onto Chesterfield we go with improvements needed.
3points and to come back as we did shows we are getting back on track. Hall must be in the lineup every match. Amos will now take some shifting as he seems to be .ore confident with every game. Keep the faith.
Back on track but still a long way to go. 3 points in the bag and the number of shots on target improving. We must use Garrity as a main man and also use Stockley with all his experience.
Two changes from the Doncaster game both centre backs who have been the mainstay of the defence all season to be replaced by players who do not normally play in those positions we were lucky we were playing a poor Newport team if this his best team with all his players fit it is time for him to go
Baffled as to how the talented Chislett and Curtis (if fit) aren’t regular starters, and the creative mainstays of the team.
Vale would have lost this if the fans and possibly the players had not turned on Moore after the Grimsby game. Ripley would still have been playing sweeper having more touches than anyone else on the pitch, and we would still be playing keep ball in our own half. Smith would be watching tele at home, Garrity would still be playing anchor man in midfield, and we would only have one or even no forwards on the pitch until the 60th or 70th minute when the almighty change around happens. Moore has been forced to play with a more of a positive approach which is highlighted by us scoring more goals in the last two game than in the previous 9 or10. However, we still look a shambles at times. All credit to Newport they ran their legs off and a lot of teams would have buckled under the pressure, but no way can you say they were a good team. Moore basically has 3 teams to choose from which at this level is ridiculous, yet he is unable to put a team out that looks comfortable all over the park. Nothing is changing my mind about Moore, he is on championship wages with a squad far bigger and better than anyone else in this league, yet we are still struggling to dominate much poorer opposition. Fans can say possibly quite rightly, we are in an automatic promotion position, but to me seldom have Vale had a squad of this quality at this level, and it’s up to the manager, a very very well paid manager may I add to get the best out of a very large and potentially very good squad. AND MOORE IS FAILING MISERABLY. We have players sitting on the bench and in the stands capable of making a team up good enough to top this league never mind what’s on the pitch, and the only reason why we aren’t is down to the manager unable to get the best out of them. Their were a number of good performances today and if someone can explain to me why it has taken Smith so long to be given a chance I’d be very grateful. Everyone EXCEPT Moore knows Smith is the best man to man marker at this level, everyone knows Garrity is the best attacking midfielder in the bottom two divisions, everyone EXCEPT Moore. Get the clown out of the club and let’s go and win a championship like this squad is capable of doing!
I have never had faith in Moore from the day he signed & I still feel the same, Carol you should get Div 1 next season but staying there, I don’t think so with Moore as manager, Clarke was the best manager & his problem at home was his downfall, you should have given him more help, TC.
Better 2nd half with some battling performances again but we only just beat a very poor side whom the 1st half made us look very ordinary. We have to come put the traps and get hold of the ball and settle ourselves as teams have figured us out a long time ago now. Get at them from the off and make them pull the game back, it nearly worked yet again but where credit is due well fought guys lets keep the battling for the full 90-100 minutes 😉 Keep going lads!
Just one other thing which baffled me, does anyone have any idea why Moore switched Headley and Clark over for the last 10-15 minutes of the first half. Both seemed to be playing well where they were so what was the point of them switching sides? Then second half they returned to their original positions, it’s another Darren Moore mystery, the joys of being a tactical genius!
Can’t believe Ian Mountford comments although it appears it was 2am when it was written. Perhaps had a bad night.
Smith was out because a younger faster taller player with better distribution was playing better at the time. Unfortunately he started making mistakes as young players do and so Smudger has got his place back.
They were forced to play Garrity as a defensive midfielder because of injuries and he was the best option available.
On Saturday like many other times this season one or two of the players were struggling in the first half and were replaced by Sang Stockley and Edwards who all improved the team on the day. But that shouldn’t mean they will start the next game because Sang and Edward’s would not play the same for a full 90 minutes.
Well done again Darren. Get off the mans back. UTV
No Mr Dave Brownsworddavid.bro, Ian Mountford didn’t have a bad night, he goes to work, unlike some, and the hours he works reflects the times he leaves messages. I’m fascinated to know who this young faster, tall and better distributor of the ball is we’ve been playing who was capable of keeping Smith out of the team ? If the gentleman is suggesting Debrah? He must be in a majority of one to think the lad is quick, and as for his distribution, 90% of his passes either went sideways or back to Ripley to kick into the stands. As for your comment on Garrity being our best option as a defensive midfielder. Honestly? He’s the best attacking midfielder in the bottom two divisions so why waste that talent. Here’s an idea why didn’t Moore play this lightening fast, tall, excellent distributor of a ball Debrah there ???? Again one should look at the recruitment of Mr Moore because even though we have a massive squad, other than Croasdale we didn’t have a defensive midfielder on the books when the season began unless your suggesting Byers was recruited to fill that position. I’m on the managers back because he’s an incompetent clown, he pays money out for both Paton and Tolaj with no idea where he is going to play either one of them. He then recruited young untried loanees and would rather give them game time than Paton and Tolaj who he paid large sums of money for. He signs Curtis and has the talented Chislett at his disposal but would sooner leave them out of the team for some reason. We now find ourselves with 8 or 9 wing half’s all in competition for two places in the team. Where does Mr Moores incompetence end? One dreads to think just how much money the club will be loosing at the end of this season just on wages. So Mr Brownsworddavid.bro may I suggest you look at the bigger picture and possibly think about things !