Jon Brady’s first game in charge ended with a win in the third round of the FA Cup. Here’s our match report.
Team News
New Port Vale manager Jon Brady was in charge of his first game and his first decision was to switch the side to a 4-4-2 formation.
There were three changes – Joe Gauci replaced Ben Amos in goal, George Hall came in for Kyle John and Ben Waine replaced Ryan Croasdale and lined up as a left winger.
Despite being able to name nine substitutes there was no place in the squad for Ronan Curtis – linked with a potential move to Plymouth Argyle. However, there were places on the bench for Irish forward Ruari Paton and youngster Ben Lomax.
Joe Gauci – started in goal
First-half
The Vale were leading at the break but the half wasn’t without incident as although the Valiants looked bright going forward, there were plenty of errors at the back as well.
The Valiants kicked off but it was the visitors with the first opportunity which was easy for the returning Gauci. However, the first real opportunity fell to Vale on four minutes. An excellent central run from Hall saw him feed Waine and his cross shot was palmed away.
Waine and Hall were causing the Fleetwood defence concern with their pace but real chances were at a premium in the opening 15 minutes. However, there was also a nervy display from the Vale defenders at times – albeit initially without creating any clear chances either. The nerves continued and luckily for Vale Fleetwood’s Neal shot straight at Gauci from a good chance after 21 minutes. There were too many unforced efforts from the Vale side. It saw Davies have another effort for the visitors on 29 minutes but it went over.
Vale then had their best chance so far when Cole’s shot was superbly tipped over by Harrington on 32 minutes after the forward was set up by Hall. There was then a lengthy break due to what appeared to be a serious injury to McCann. When play resumed, Vale went close again with Waine inches away from connecting with Byers’ dangerous cross.
The Valiants did go ahead on 42 minutes when Cole and Stockley combined and set up Jordan Shipley to drive the ball home from the edge of the box. The goal came on 45 minutes.
That strike was enough to see Vale take a narrow lead into the break.
Half-time: Port Vale 1-0 Fleetwood
Jordan Shipley – opened the scoring
Second-half
It was a poor spectacle for Vale fans in the second-half but the side held firm to progress into the fourth round.
Fleetwood started strongly with a period of pressure. The lively Ennis wriggled through a static Vale defence on 47 minutes but shot into the side netting. Vale then hit back with a powerful effort from Johnson which was deflected wide. It was then Fleetwood’s turn to attack and Clark dozed off allowing the impressive Ennis another pot shot on 53 minutes. The wide man gave Vale’s right-back a torrid time all night.
It wasn’t exactly thrilling stuff but the 4-4-2 formation at least made Vale look more of a threat going forward than they had under Darren Moore’s preferred 3-5-2 formation.
As the match hit the hour mark, the Valiants hadn’t clicked into gear in the second-half and Jon Brady responded with changes. Mo Faal and Ryan Croasdale came on for Jayden Stockley and George Hall. Faal nearly had an immediate impact as he almost robbed the Fleetwood keeper. The sub then had another chance on 64 minutes but he could only find the side netting. After those efforts, Vale had come more into the game.
However, they had to be alert when the ball found Medley on the edge of the Vale box but his 76th minute effort was deflected over. From the resulting corner, Rooney also went close. There was also a fine saving tackle from sub Jaheim Headley on 87 minutes as Virtue broke clear. Vale were under a fair bit of pressure in the final stages of the game. However, despite six minutes of added time they held on to record a clean sheet. They may even have doubled their advantage but a powerful late drive from Faal curled just wide.
It all meant a (checks his list) first goal, first win and first clean sheet of Jon Brady’s regime plus welcome cup progression and revenue for the club. Overall, despite the lack of thrills and spills, it was a good day at the office.
Full-time: Port Vale 1-0 Fleetwood
Ryan Croasdale – the Vale sub was lively
Analysis and Opinion
The match
First off the financials. Vale have banked £121,000 in prize money for this win – and that’s not including gate receipts and the TV revenue. Furthermore, they now have a chance of adding to that (perhaps substantially) in the next round.
It was good to see new manager Jon Brady resort to a 4-4-2 – it’s a formation which suits Vale Park’s wide pitch. Brady clearly decided to add some pace to his side and the additions of Hall and Waine did mean Vale possessed more of an attacking threat, particularly on the break.
However, it was worrying to see so many (often unforced) errors at the back especially against a side from a division lower. However, as Brady said, he needs to deliver results and despite Vale riding their luck at times a win is a win. It’s a perfect start so far…
The players
In front of the back four, there were generally solid performances. Cole and Stockley both did well; Hall and Waine caught the eye on the flanks and pleasingly Byers and Shipley (both often the target of boo boys) had good games in the middle. However, it wasn’t a great night for the defence who looked nervy throughout.
Apart from some poor distribution at times, Joe Gauci was solid on his return to the side while sub Ryan Croasdale was lively when introduced.
Star player
There were several strong performances including George Hall, Cole, Byers and Shipley but no single stand-out performance.
Summing up in a sentence
No cup classic but Vale progress in Brady’s first game.
Match stats
Team: Gauci – Clark, Heneghan, Humphreys, Johnson (Headley) – G.Hall (Croasdale), Byers, Shipley, Waine (Brown) – Stockley (Faal), Cole
Subs: Amos, Walters, Lomax, John, Paton
Yellows: Shipley, Gauci
Reds: none
Goals: Shipley 45
Attendance: 3,366
Season stats
Your thoughts…
Debate the match on the dedicated match thread in the OVF forum
Or scroll down and post your comment at the bottom of this match report
Apart from the win with a clean sheet, what pleases me most is Brady’s selection of a 442 formation with attacking flank service. It’s a close result against League 2 opposition, but you wouldn’t expect Fleetwood to hand the game to Vale with that prize money at stake. A good start for Brady with hope of better things to come, without muddled tactics and confusing team selections.
The game certainly wasn’t a classic but the result was more important than the performance, the worrying thing for me was there was very little quality on display, you couldn’t fault the effort but if you were a neutral you wouldn’t have been able to recognise Vale as being the league one side against Fleetwood who are a pretty poor league two outfit. Work to do, we need 30 points to survive with 23 games to get them. Keep the faith, Up the Vale. L