Port Vale’s unbeaten run under Michael Brown came to a halt on Saturday as Scunthorpe United ran put eventual winners in a five-goal thriller at Glanford Park.
Vale took the lead late on in the first half as Tyler Walker grabbed his second goal in two games for the club.
A controversial penalty was the Iron’s ticket back into the game that Josh Morris emphatically converted to draw level just minutes into the second half.
Ten minutes later, JJ Hooper put Vale back into the lead with a calm finish from the edge of the area after some great build up play by Ben Purkiss on the right hand side.
However, goals from Ivan Toney and Tom Hopper were enough to draw level and then take the lead for the Iron in this tightly fought contest.
Defender Kjell Knops spoke exclusively to Valiant PlayerHD after the game about the result: “I think that we played well and scored a good goal to make in 1-0 in the first half, which we deserved.”
He continued: “Then in the second half they have two moments to make it 1-1 and 2-2, that were our own fault, and in the end they managed to grab a third to make it 3-2 which is disappointing because we deserved a point today.”
Knops was used as a second half substitute as he replaced Nathan Smith just as Scunthorpe equalised for the first time in the afternoon. Despite the momentum swinging in the home teams direction, the 29-year old was not phased by adjusting to the game’s pace: “It is always a bit difficult when you come in, but I am getting used to it.”
“It is really fast paced so it is difficulty to initially adjust bit after a few minutes you get used to it”, he added.
Port Vale will be looking for a second win under Michael Brown come the weekend as they host the travelling Peterborough United, who are looking to push for a play-off place.