Port Vale v Plymouth Argyle
Match Report by Dave Johnson
From Vale Park
Attendance: 4,375 including 460 visiting supporters
TEAMS:
PORT VALE: Stuart Tomlinson, Adam Yates, Rob Taylor, Anthony Griffith, John McCombe, Doug Loft, Marc Richards, Sean Rigg, Sam Morsy, Ben Wiliamson, Clayton McDonald. SUBS: Chris Martin, Louis Dodds, Kingsley James, Tom Pope, Joe Davis
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE: Jake Cole, Ashley Hemmings, Maxime Blanchard, Onismor Bhasera, Simon Walton, Paul Wotton, Darren Purse, Luke Young, Nick Chadwick, Paul Bignot, Matt Lecointe. SUBS: Romain Larrieu, Durrell Berry, Ladjie Soukouna, Craig Sutherland, Joe Lennox.
Not surprisingly, given the number of injuries within the Port Vale camp and the level of performance in the previous game against Rotherham United, Micky Adams announced an unchanged side to face a resurgent Plymouth Argyle.
That meant a third successive appearance at left back for Vale midfielder Doug Loft, who tunred in a man of the match performance at the Don Valley Stadium seven days previously.
Vale started slowly, with the visitors appearing to win the majority of the 'fifty-fifty' balls on the opening stages of the game.
Despite the Pilgrims' eagerness to make Vale pay for any lack of urgency, it was Vale who created the first real opening.
Sean Rigg took on and beat his marker deep inside the Plymouth half , wide on the left, before delivering a beautifully flighted ball towards the far post.
The cross was met by Ben Williamson, who directed his header downwards, but unfortunately wide of Jake Cole's right hand post.
If Vale had been slow out of the starting blocks, they began to make amends, showing more of the spirit in display when they took the three points from Rotherham.
Luke Young was allowed to run at the Vale defence from just over the halfway line and it took a foul to prevent him going right through on goal, but the resulting free kick came to nothing.
Despite all of the hype that accompanied Plymouth to Burslem and all of the talk about their recent improvement, it was Vale who were seeing much more of the ball, pushing the visitors back inside their own half for long spells.
The visitors were reliant on their ability to break and the opportunity to do so was somewhat a rarity as Vale remained well organised at the back.
The first half belonged to Vale, who had the biggest slice of possession, but in fairness to the visitors, who had defended well, Vale will be disappointed with their failure to severely test the 'keeper.
Rob Taylor created an opening for skipper Marc Richards early in the second half, crossing from the left for Richards to get in a header which was held comfortably by Cole.
Moments later Rigg's low drive seemed to have the better of the Plymouth 'keeper, but a deflection took the ball the wrong side of the upright.
Vale's inability to convert their chances was beginning to look as though it was something they may regret as the visitors came more into the game.
Vale responded by making their first substitution. On came Louis Dodds as a replacement for Ben Williamson in the 69th minute.
Seven minutes later Micky Adams decided to make a second change with Tom Pope coming off the bench to replace Rob Taylor.
Vale continued to put in the effort, but in truth they lacked the cutting edge necessary if they were to go on to win the game.
GOAL: All of that changed in the 86th minute. Richards received the ball with his back to goal, laid it off for strike partner Pope and the big man drove the ball into the corner of the net.
It was the striker's first goal in 16 games and it couldn't have come at a better time, securing Vale's second win in a row.
