The Valiants secured themselves a second-round tie in the Carabao Cup after coming from behind twice to see off Fleetwood Town.
The visitors were the ones who opened the scoring, Cian Hayes picked up the ball on the right side of the box before curling an exquisite effort into the top left corner, leaving Connor Ripley with no chance inside the fifth minute.
Seven minutes later the Vale had their first effort of the game when loanees Josh Thomas and Ollie Arblaster linked up nicely allowing the latter to strike towards goal, but Jay Lynch kept the ball from hitting the net.
The Valiants soon levelled with a goal that was very similar to Fleetwood’s. Summer signing Ethan Chislett cut inside from the left side before curling a shot into the far-right corner to open Vale’s account for the season in emphatic fashion.
After weathering a lot of the Fleetwood Town storm, The Vale ended the half the better side as they twice came close to going ahead. Josh Thomas stung the palms of Jay Lynch before Ellis Harrison’s header was stopped by the recovering keeper. A minute later Thomas once again looked to put the Vale ahead and forced Lynch into a world-class save after he got on the end of a close-range cross.
The second half started much like the first, with the visitors going ahead after Ryan Graydon headed home a corner at the near post in the 47th minute.
In the 53rd minute, Ethan Chislett was once again involved in Vale’s offensive play when he tried to find Ellis Harrison with a deft flick. However, the Vale forward was unable to get a toe on Chislett’s through ball.
The Valiants levelled on the 57th minute when Josh Thomas showed great determination to drive into the box and shoot towards goal. His effort deflected off the Fleetwood defender before looping over Lynch and nestling into the far corner, giving the young striker his first goal on his Vale home debut.
Vale then took the lead in the 72nd minute when James Plant picked up a loose ball in the Fleetwood half before driving into the box. He spotted the intelligent run of Gavin Massey who beat the onrushing keeper to the ball before lifting it over Lynch, into the path of Ethan Chislett to head home into the empty net to earn him a second goal in what’s been a superb home debut.
The referee indicated seven minutes of added time and up stepped Connor Ripley who produced multiple moments of magic to keep the Valiants in the lead. In the 96th he pulled off a world-class save from Harrison Holgate’s effort from outside the box. From the following corner Ripley was on hand again to save Vale as he was a full strength to tip a header around the post.
Eventually the referee blew the final whistle and The Vale fans in The Hamil Road rose to their feet to applaud their keeper who had made a succession of incredible saves to help his side progress into the Second Round of the Carabao Cup for the first time since the 2020/21 season.
TEAM NEWS:
Port Vale:
Connor Ripley, Lewis Cass, Nathan Smith, Ellis Harrison (James Wilson 64’) , Ethan Chislett (Ben Garrity 74’), Funso Ojo, Connor Grant (Tom Sang 74), Alex Iacotti, Ollie Arblaster (Tommy McDermott 82’), James Plant, Josh Thomas (Gavin Massey 64’)
SUBS: Jayson Leutweiler, Dan Jones, Jack Shorrock, Rhys Walters
Fleetwood Town:
Jay Lynch, Scott Robertson (Danny Mayor 72’), Ryan Broom (Josh Vela 80’), Jack Marriot, Junior Quitirna, Harrison Holgate (Connor Teale 80’), Ryan Graydon (Promise Omochere 72’), Cian Hayes, Toto Nsiala, Shaun Rooney (Maleace Asamoah 90’), Josh Earl
SUBS: Stephen McMullan, Carl Johnston, Sam Glenfield, Pheonix Patterson
Attendance: 2.742 (92 away fans)