A strike from in-form Ronan Curtis helped cancel out a mistake by keeper Ben Amos as the Vale were held at Prenton Park. Here’s our match report.
Team news
Darren Moore named a rare unchanged team after Ronan Curtis’ successful appeal against his red card. Curtis and Hackford were paired upfront with fit again Lorent Tolaj and Mitch Clark both on the bench. Former Vale manager Andy Crosby was in temporary charge of Rovers.
First-Half
A goalkeeping error from Ben Amos was cancelled out by another goal from in-form Ronan Curtis as it ended all-square at the break.
There was a slow start to the game with the home side having the better of the opening exchanges through the lively Omari Patrick.
However, there were no clear chances until seventeen minutes when Amos passed the ball out to Regan Hendry. He had the simple chance of supplying striker Kristian Dennis who made no mistake finding the open net.
Vale’s first effort came on 23 minutes when Harper struck wide before Hawkes forced a decent save out of Amos two minutes later. However, Vale did find the target on 28 minutes thanks to persistence from wingback Kyle John. He broke down the wing and his ball found Ronan Curtis whose deflected shot found the net. It was the Irishman’s seventh of the season.
After a poor start by the Valiants it was now all Vale as they piled on the pressure. It was nearly 2-1 moments after the goal as Hart’s ball went across the box but no Vale foot could connect. Then a similar move to the goal saw John break on the flank again but this time Curtis couldn’t connect.
The home side countered and Amos made another smart save on 43 minutes, this time from Hendry. That was the last significant action as it finished all-square at the break.
Half-time: Tranmere 1-1 Port Vale
Second-Half
Both sides played out a goalless second-half as the Valiants took a point home. It ended in drama with Tranmere reduced to ten men after Wood received a second yellow card.
Tranmere had the first chance of the second 45 minutes when Hendry drove well wide while Patrick put another shot wide minutes later. Vale’s first chance came on 50 minutes when the irrepressible Curtis charged down a clearance and forced a save out of the keeper.
The Valiants made a change on the hour mark as Tolaj came on for Hackford. The game had meandered at that point until it briefly burst into life on 64 minutes. O’Connor hit a piledriver which Amos did brilliantly to save. From the corner, Curtis’ header hit his own post as the home side came close to taking the lead.
The game slowed again until the home side pushed again with Dennis heading wide on 72 minutes. It was Tranmere who were having the better chances as the half progressed.
Darren Moore brought on Clark and Chislett for the closing fifteen minutes. There was a Vale shout for handball shortly after but it wasn’t given. Tranmere were next to threaten with Debrah blocking Jennings’ drive. There was then a delay as Byers went down with an injury.
Lorent Tolaj almost broke through the defence late on but was denied. Another Vale break saw Clark go clear. He found Croasdale but the drive was over.
Tranmere countered with a Garrett drive which was blocked but there was drama when Wood brought down Tolaj and was sent off for a second yellow card. It was a poor display by Wood who had picked up an unnecessary yellow earlier for blocking Connor Hall’s throw. Vale then saw a Lorent Tolaj overhead kick go wide. Bizarrely the forward was booked for simply trying to hit the ball into the net.
There were eight minutes of additional time added with Vale pushing for a winner. However, it wouldn’t come and both sides had to settle for a point.
Full-time: Tranmere 1-1 Port Vale
Summary
This was far from Vale’s most fluent display of the season but they ground out a result nevertheless. I suppose that considering the injury situation a point isn’t too bad but a win against struggling opposition would have been preferred. However, it was a stop-start performance with long periods of low quality punctured by occasional passages of good play.
Once again we had a picky referee – even forcing Tranmere to restart the second period – but his decisions didn’t interfere with the play too much. A word for the Vale travelling support, who were vocal throughout.
Players
The bang-in-form Ronan Curtis was Vale’s most impressive player showing guile and commitment, but a word for wingback Kyle John who kept a check on dangerman Omari Patrick and impressed with his industry and supply from the flank.
Ben Amos made amends for his mistake with some good saves while Connor Hall was a tower of strength at the back. George Byers showed some neat touches and terrier Ryan Croasdale was always involved.
It was good to see Mitch Clark and Lorent Tolaj return from injury but yet another knock to George Byers will cause concern.
Stats
Starting XI: Amos – Debrah, Smith, Hall – John (Clark), Harper (Chislett), Croasdale, Hart – Byers (Richards) – Curtis, Hackford (Tolaj)
Subs: Broome, Umolu, Heneghan
Goals: Curtis (28)
Yellow cards: Hart, Tolaj
Attendance:
Competition: League Two
What did you think of the game and the performance? Scroll down and submit a comment.
Maybe it seems 2 points dropped but Tranmere in the drop zone and scrapping for every point. Byers again injured and is becoming a liability. Curtis is now on cracking form and a vital part of our lineup. We move on and 3 points on Tuesday is vital to keep moving forward and attaining promotion. Keep the faith.
Poor show by the Vale, they still play like strangers, they have not gelled, I thought it was a definite 3 points today, but then I saw,the brain dead referee,3 of there players should of walked.The ref asked the Tranmere goalkeeper for the ball he was holding under his arm, the keeper said NO so the ref turned and walked away, Yes they obviously save the best referees for the Vale games. We are missing to many players, the young guns are not pulling there weight, I think it’s touch and go to even make the play offs.Tuesday is a must win game.
Mediocre and inferior to Tranmere for most of the game.Too much sloppy play and Vale incapable of stringing more than 2 passes together.Curtis the only player who looks capable of making things happen.Mid table finish unless they improve
I thought the first 60mins of last Saturday’s home game was possibly the best we’ve played all season, we had 2 willing runners up front and everyone appeared to be playing well, but unnecessary substitutions took the momentum out of our game. Saying that I still went into today’s game full of confidence expecting a win. It was scrappy which you don’t mind but seldom did we manage to match Tranmere’s urgency. The fact that almost half the teams in this league will either be fighting for a playoff place or fighting to stay in the league, Vale will have to get use to playing against committed teams like this almost every week. It wasn’t until after the sending off that Vale impose themselves on Tranmere which doesn’t say a lot. While we did gift Tranmere with their goal they deserved their point, they were much more prominent than us and made a number of good chances, they even shot from outside the box!!! Something the Vale players think is illegal. I did notice we are starting this ridiculous playing out from the back again, I know it could be because we don’t have a target man up there like Stockley, or is it because Byers is in midfield pulling the strings, but which ever, it does lead to mistakes as in the case of Amos. Our back 3 looked solid especially Hall and Smith. Both Hart and John had their hands full particularly John who showed his worth. To me the midfield was all over the place and Tranmere ran through them at will. I’m still waiting for Byers to prove me wrong, but other than the ball to John leading to our goal to me he did nothing. He seems to wander around midfield at walking pace telling people what to do and playing short nothing balls, personally I don’t think the blood and thunder of league 2 suits him. A word for Curtis who’s energy, commitment and attitude made him our stand out player something we need from every player ever week!
I’m sick of saying it but playing the ball out from the back all the time not only invites pressure, it slows the game down and gives the opposition a chance to organise themselves. Playing with two wing backs is fine, Kyle John is very good at playing that way as shown today. However we struggled with that on the left side of the pitch because when Hart commits himself forward then loses the ball, Tranmere just play the ball in the space behind him. How many times did you see him scampering back today and giving a foul away.
Playoffs at best this season!
I think the reality is these group of players give 100% every game but this is a really poor league emphasised by the fact I’ve watched a lot of teams at the top play teams at the bottom and you would struggle to know which was which, Tranmere were far better us for long spells of the game yesterday. Carol has said we need a squad league 1 ready in all honesty there’s a handful in this squad that are good enough for league 1. I don’t know about the finances but I’d say staying in this league adding a bit more quality in the summer and be properly ready for promotion wouldn’t b a bad thing would it ?