Vale’s second defeat in a row presents Walsall with the Reserve Title
Port Vale 0 (0) v Bradford City 2 (1)
Wednesday 01 March 2017
Vale’s second defeat in a row presents Walsall with the Reserve Title
PORT VALE:Deniz Mehmet,James Gibbons (Ben Fraser 61),Scot Tanser (Gazim Shelaj 53), Ivor Lawton, Paulo Tavares, Luke Dennis, Axel Prohouly, Sebastien Amoros (Mike Calverley 86), Dan Turner, Sam Kelly, Olamade Shodipo (Quentin Pereira 72).
SUBS NOT USED:Harry Pickering.
:BRADFORD CITYJoe Cracknell, Jacob Hanson, Matt Penney, Daniel, Pybus, Kevin Toner, James King, Andreas Komodikis, Danny Devine, Ville Moilanen (Niah Payne 79), Curtis Peters (Kwame Boateng 86), Ellis Hudson.
SUBS NOT USED:George Sykes-Kenworthy, Tom Windle, Sam Wright.
minute as Kelly found a shooting opportunity on the edge of the area and his left foot shot was parried away by the ‘keeper.thVale kicked off with new ‘keeper Deniz Mehmet between the sticks, Ivor Lawton, ex Coventry as a triallist and the knowledge that wins in the final three games would give them the title. Vale had an early scare as Dennis sliced a clearance and Mehmet was called on to claw the ball away from under the bar. Vale came close in the 13
The next incident of note came just after the half-hour after Tanser gave a corner away and from the cross Devine’s header brought another good save by pushing it away from under the bar. Vale threatened from a corner as Prohouly’s header brought a good save from Cracknell and soon after Dennis stole the ball from Moilanen as he drove forward on goal. In the last minute of the half a centre from the left saw Penney shoot powerfully that got a slight deflection and past Mehmet who got a hand to it but couldn’t stop it going in the net.
replaced Gibbons just after the hour mark and was soon involved in making a saving interception as Bradford attacked with a 2 on 1 situation. Vale fell further behind with 20 minutes to go as Tavares brought down an attacker just inside the box and Hudson scored from the spot. Mehmet was in action soon after the restart pushing away a shot from Peters but soon Vale were attacking and Turner had his first shot charged down and then saw Cracknell save his second attempt. Fraser
Mehmet was having a good debut despite the score line and pulled off another good save from Moilanen after 74 minutes. Kelly found Turner with a nice pass but Turner was closed down before being able to get shot off. The game petered out without Vale really threatening the visitor’s goal for a consolation score, although Mehmet saved Vale again in added on time.
Lindon Roberts – Port Vale Volunteers Group