Port Vale will be hoping to carry on our winning run following three consecutive victories against Newport County, Colchester United and Crawley Town, when we welcome Exeter City to Vale Park on Good Friday. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Exeter City
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Friday 2nd April
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Leigh Doughty
Port Vale
Manager: Darrell Clarke
Form: DLWWW
Top Goal Scorer: Devante Rodney (11 goals)
The Valiants will be hoping to build on last weekend’s victory at Crawley Town with another win when we welcome play-off hopefuls Exeter City to Vale Park on Good Friday.
Goals from captain Tom Conlon, Nathan Smith and David Worrall were enough to earn Vale a deserved 3-1 victory at The People’s Pension Stadium last weekend, and Darrell Clarke will be hoping the Valiants are able to put on a similar sort of performance against another play-off chasing side on Friday.
Last weekend’s victory earnt three Vale players a spot in the Sky Bet League Two Team of the Week, with Nathan Smith, Cristian Montano and David Worrall all earning their place in the side, after standout performances against the Red Devils.
But Darrell Clarke will be telling his team to put last weekend’s success behind them, with full focus turning to another tough test against Matt Taylor’s side.
The last time we faced the Grecians in the league, a wonderful Tom Conlon free-kick followed by a first Vale goal for Devante Rodney secured a 2-0 win at St. James’ Park for us back in September, whilst we also triumphed 3-1 the last time Exeter visited Vale Park, in January 2020.
Following three wins on the bounce, the Valiants will be looking to make it four wins on the spin to carry on our momentum into the final run-in.
“In the past few games, I think the effort and the commitment with that added bit of quality has improved. The first two should be a given and then you’re looking for the quality to shine through, and that’s happened in the past few games.”
Darrell Clarke, Port Vale Manager
Exeter City
Manager: Matt Taylor
Form: WLLLW
Top Goal Scorer: Matt Jay (17 goals)
Despite suffering three league defeats in a row prior to overcoming Salford, the Grecians still harbour hopes of finishing in a play-off spot, sitting one point and one place behind seventh place Newport County, who currently occupy the final play-off berth.
Matt Taylor’s side have ordinarily finished towards the top end of the table in recent seasons, and they will be hoping this campaign will be no different, with hope of securing that desired promotion to Sky Bet League One still alive.
A 1-0 win at home over Salford City in their last game brought their run of three losses in a row to a halt, and the Grecians will be hoping to build on that win going into the final stretch of the season.
One to watch: Matt Jay
The 25-year-old striker is a homegrown product of Exeter’s youth academy, becoming a fan favourite this season, after his 17 goals so far have made him the club’s top scorer for the current campaign.
Jay started his youth career with the Grecians in 2003, before signing a professional deal with the club in 2013, making his debut in a Papa John’s Trophy clash against Wycombe Wanderers at St. James’ Park in September 2013.
He has spent time on loan at Weston-Super-Mare, Hayes & Yeading United and Truro City whilst playing for the Grecians, before coming back to be a member of the squad in the summer of 2016.
He has become a regular this season, and has repaid his manager’s faith in him so far, with hopes from the Exeter camp that he can fire them to a promotion and continue his development.
Talk:
Darrell Clarke: “We’ve got another good team in Exeter coming here on Friday, so we’ll look forward to it. I think they’ll finish in the top seven, but hopefully we can take the points.”
Matt Taylor: “They’ve been convincing winners in the past three games. They were in a bit of a difficult situation previous to those three wins, but you see how three wins on the bounce can shoot you up the table, and they’ll be full of confidence going into Friday’s fixture.”
Coverage:
iFollow The Vale will be providing full 90-minute coverage of the match for all domestic supporters, whilst the Port Vale Twitter and Facebook feeds will be providing live updates for the entirety.
To purchase an iFollow match pass click here.
There will also be the build-up to the game with the official Snapchat and Instagram accounts: @officialpvfc
Reaction will be available on the website post-match, as well as on YouTube, iFollow and our official social media channels.