Two Birchall Rockets Give Vale Reserves A Winning Start
Walsall 1 (0) v Port Vale 2 (2)
Wednesday 24 September 2014
Two Birchall Rockets Give Vale Reserves A Winning Start
WALSALL:CraigMacGillivray, Ben Purkiss (Delaney), Rico Henry, Kyle Rowley (Kane Lewis), Dean Holden, Liam Kinsella, Billy Clifford, Kieron Morris, Jordan Murphy, Amadou Bakayoko, Levi Rowley (Jordan Sangha).SUBS NOT USED:Dan Jezeph (GK)
PORT VALE: Ryan Boot, Billy Reeves, Lewis Bergin,SUBS NOT USED:Sam Johnson, Kyle Clarke, Alex Morris, Steve Jennings, Chris Robertson, Nathan Smith, Byron Moore (Chekaine Steele 59), Chris Birchall, Colin Daniel, Jonathon Kapend (Daniel Turner 88), Ryan Lloyd.
An experienced Vale XI made most of the early running at Chasetown FC by controlling midfield and the first near escape for the home side came when Daniel bet the ‘keeper to a cross but couldn’t direct the ball and it went up in the air before being cleared. Daniel was again in action when chasing down a defender who miss hit the ball backwards and from Daniel’s challenge on MacGillivray the ball fell to Moore who shot just wide. A Morris free kick caused problems in the Saddlers’ penalty box and Daniel and Lloyd had shots charged down. It was 25 minutes on the clock before there was any danger at the other end when a cross from the right presented an opportunity for a shot but the ball was not controlled and was cleared away.
who, this time, lashed it into the other top corner of the net from slightly closer range. The last couple of minutes of the half saw the home side exert a bit of pressure as first Johnson cut in from the left to bring a good save from Johnson and Sam then watched a shot from Morris around the post.Birchall broke from midfield and from 25 yards unleashed an unstoppable drive into the top left hand corner of the net. Vale continued to dominate play and added to their lead with 5 minutes of the half left. This time the build up was via a neat piece of play by Morris and Lloyd on the left before the ball was played to Daniel on the edge of the box, he turned and rolled it back towards the onrushing Chris BirchallA minute later and Vale were in front as
Walsall were soon on the offensive in the second period and with a little less than 10 minutes gone they reduced the arrears as a free kick from the left saw Rowley rose highest to place a header just inside the far post. 2 minutes later a header from Bakayoko heading for the same spot but Johnson stepped forward to clutch the ball out of the air. This was soon followed by a near miss as Robertson cut out a dangerous cross but the ball was rolling goalwards with Johnson out of the picture, but Robertson recovered to clear the ball to safety.
Although the Vale midfield was not dominating this half Birchall had a chance with another long range effort but this time pulled the ball wide. Lloyd had a first time shot blocked and then a long clearance saw Daniel with a one on one with the ‘keeper twice, but he took too long and the ‘keeper blocked both efforts. In added on time Walsall pressed and a dangerous cross was blocked and cleared and Johnson caught a 35 yard free kick under the bar to ensure a winning start to the Reserves campaign.
Match Report - Lindon Roberts