An early goal from Jayden Stockley gave Vale a half-time lead but the dismissal of Mitch Clark saw Chesterfield claim a second-half equaliser as it ended in a draw. Here’s our match report.
Team news
Darren Moore brought Jayden Stockley, Rakeem Harper and Connor Hall into his starting XI at the expense of Antwoine Hackford, Jason Lowe and Sam Hart. George Byers was named on the bench.
First-Half
An early strike by Jayden Stockley gave the Valiants the advantage at the interval.
The goal came from hesitant defending by the home side which allowed Vale a throw-in. The ball was given to Connor Hall who found Nathan Smith and he fed Jayden Stockley who was allowed to turn and fire home. It was a perfect start from the visitors and the second goal in successive games for the Valiants targetman.
Fellow forward Lorent Tolaj then saw a header saved before the home side started to dominate possession albeit without initially creating any clearcut chances. It took until the 24th minute for Chesterfield to call Ben Amos into action and he responded with three excellent saves in quick succession.
The home side continued to push but Vale came back into it as the half progressed. There was an effort from Headley, following good work from Tolaj, which was deflected wide and another chance for Stockley as the half came to an end.
It had been a solid away performance from Vale in the first 45 minutes with resilient defending restricting Chesterfield’s efforts while Darren Moore’s side looked dangerous on the break.
Half-time: Chesterfield 0-1 Port Vale
Second-Half
There was also early drama in the second-half as Vale were reduced to ten men in the 50th minute. Call us biased, but the challenge by Mitch Clark looked to be a yellow at best as he caught his opponent on the foot but the referee opted to dismiss the wingback.
The red altered the game as Vale were reduced to defending wave after wave of Chesterfield attacks. There were numerous chance for Chesterfield but they largely found Vale defending for their lives. They battled away commendably until sub Tom Sang was robbed by Dobra on 76 minutes and the dangerman made no mistake in slotting past Amos.
The home side continued to press for a winner but Vale held on gamely despite four minutes (which turned out to be seven) minutes of additional time. So, it’s no third win in a row for Darren Moore’s side but a point after playing forty minutes with only ten men seems a decent result in the circumstances.
Full-time: Chesterfield 1-1 Port Vale
Summary
Not another one! It was another eyebrow raising League Two refereeing display with the official constantly stopping play and making the game more about him than the players. One can see this as either glass half-empty (Vale missing out on a valuable away win) or half-full (Vale held on for a point after near constant pressure) on the final whistle.
Players
Jaheim Headley had another good game and impressed with his forward play until he was forced into a more defensive display late on. Credit to Ben Amos and his defenders for a resilient display which was matched by some terrific hard work from the midfield. It was good to see Jayden Stockley back to his best and causing the opposition defender issues, while Loren Tolaj impressed in flashes. A word too for Tom Sang who looked distraught after his error – he should hold himself to blame. If anyone is to blame for Vale conceding it’s arguably more the referee’s fault than Sang’s.
Stats
Starting XI: Amos – John (Sang), Smith, Hall – Clark, Harper (Byers), Croasdale, Headley – Garrity – Stockley (Curtis), Tolaj
Subs: Broome, Heneghan, Richards, Umolu
Goals: Stockley (2)
Bookings: Hall, Harper, Croasdale
Dismissal: Clark
Attendance: TBC
Competition: League Two
What did you think of the game and the performance? Scroll down and submit a comment.
We will take a Draw ( 3 game run ) Dogdy ref .
Sending off spoilt the game..Take the point at the end. My view was in this day and age where you can’t tackle referee was always going to give red card. Disappointing goal to concede but Sang is the right sided equivalent of Dan Jones! Hopeless! Can’t understand why John was subbed. Special mention for stockley and croasdale but Headley was my man of the match. We have sent Cover back to Leicester and we have Sang in his position , tough luck Brandon on your number being pulled out of the tombola to exit along with Ruari. For me Cover wins every time. Big game now at Colchester on Tuesday. 3 points needed
Not a red card very poor referee seen better on tunstall park having said that poor management decisions loosing the right wing back the obvious choice would have been John to fill in at right back henegan in defence stockley taken off as he is just back from injury leaving tolaj up front on his own
To play with ten men for nearly fifty minutes shows the guys are playing for the club. To score so early and not putting the opposition to the sword means we are too often happy with 1 goal and sit back. Why Paton was allowed to go out on loan was nuts. Also where was Chislett, injured or not too the managers liking ,beggars belief.
I thought it was a sending off and they deserved their goal but sang was out of position and is not a defender at all and this falls on the manager who should have finished the game off before they scored obviously my opinion from where I was sitting
It’s a good point at the end of the day,their #27 was doing his best dives to get a Vale player sent off, the Ref was a poser, waiting for a red carded player to walk around the pitch, before restarting the game.As for Rekeem Harper he’s not for me, he had two weak shots at goal and gave the ball away to cheaply, As for Sang it happens, put it behind you now and forget it.I think Chesterfield will be up there in the playoffs at the end of the season, so a point is not to bad.
Vale should have rolled this match up by halftime but allowed Chesterfield to get back in the game. The goal difference is dismal the lack of a reliable goal scorer is really holding this team back and could be a deciding factor in who goes up or stays in L2.
Not looking forward to Tuesdays match at Colchester this match will have taken a lot out of the players will Moore roll the dice how many changes will he make?
I would like to know from Darren Moore exactly why (subject to fitness) Chislett, Curtis and Paton aren’t regular starters and mainstays of the team. All three could hold their own in the Championship, never mind League 2. That Moore has prefers and selects young loan players ahead of them is baffling. It’s debatable, but if fit my preferred starting team would be;
Ripley; Clark, Smith, Hall, Headley; Curtis, Croasdale, Garrity, Chislett; Stockley, Paton;
It was a red card all day long if the tackle would of been on a Vale player we would be saying that it was a red card
@Kev Small – I wouldn’t. It was a yellow for me whatever side committed it.
It was a team most fans would have been happy with and we couldn’t have wished for a better start. Both teams had little spells of dominance and the 0-1 score line at half time was about fair. As for the sending off, I don’t really moan about any decision at games (except the Bromley goal), because I feel the officials are much closer and have a better view than supporters especially at Vale Park. Their job is difficult enough without 22 players constantly throwing themselves all over the place and rolling around as if they’ve been shot every time someone touches them, then add to this 10,000 fans putting them under pressure screaming abuse at them. When I looked at the Clark incident on the tele, there seemed nothing nasty about it and at worst just a silly tackle and at best a booking, but it’s a chance you take if you raise your foot. Once Clark had gone, I can not knock the effort and work rate but again as in the Crewe game, just because we go down to 10men I just don’t understand why we have to sit there behind the ball and invite pressure. Other teams seem capable to readjust and continue to play but Moore seems happy to just go into his shell. I went to the game fully expecting a win especially after the intensity of the Newport game but again we just don’t seem capable of dominating games. Tolaj ran his legs off but didn’t seem a goal threat, I’m not a fan of Harper as he doesn’t seem fit, but still the midfield should have been good enough to control the middle of the park. For me we just stood off them to much allowing them to pick their passes. As for their goal if it had fell to Smithy it would have ended up on the car park and not in our net. In the next few weeks when clubs play their games in hand on us, Vale could quite easily find themselves in mid table then supporters will realise just how much Moore is under achieving with this squad.