Pope describes emotions
Port Vale striker Tom Pope has admitted that promotion with his home-town club hasn't really sunk in yet after the 2-2 draw with Northampton Town saw Vale promoted to League One albeit a huge goal swing next week.
The League Two top goal-scorer said: “It hasn't really sunk in it’s only been like 45 minutes, at the moment it’s a bit surreal.
“Over the next few days it will sink in a little bit certainly but for fans it has been 19 years since a promotion I hope it isn't going to be another 19 years for another.
“I'm sure the fans will remember this for a long time.”
Striker Pope admits the match was more about the result than the performance after coming from behind twice to clinch the point needed to albeit clinch promotion.
“We’d have liked to have put a good performance on convincingly and let everyone have a party but we've done it the hard way as normal but we are there so we are delighted,” said Pope.
A crowd of more than 12,000 witnessed the drama unfold at Vale Park and with promotion in sight Pope explains how the crowd kept the team informed of the goings on elsewhere in League Two.
Pope explained: “They make a massive difference, 13,000 roaring you on is a great bonus, and it’s just a bit disappointing we haven’t put on a good show for them.
“First-half we certainly had plenty of chances and we put ourselves about a bit, after the equaliser we should have probably had a couple more.
“Second-half we didn't really get out the blocks and they went two-one up.
“Luckily Lee Collins has managed to help us out.”
He added: “When you have 12,000 fans, they give you a good gauge on what’s happening, they were quiet when we were losing so obviously things weren't going right.
“Once we got the equaliser you could see their spirits lift and their voices raise and we knew at the time that a point was probably going to be enough.”