The Valiants exit the Carabao Cup at the Quarter Final stage this evening at Vale Park.
The game initially started out well for the Valiants as they were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position after Matt Clarke pulled Ethan Chislett to the ground in the 4th minute. The set-piece was floated over the bar onto the roof of the net, however.
In the 12th minute, Boro scored their first. Jonny Howson’s shot took a huge deflection and looped over Ripley into the net.
Vale responded with some sustained pressure over the next few minutes but it bared no fruits and in the 23rd minute Boro added their second. We were dispossessed high up the field before the ball was pulled back for Morgan Rogers to score.
The Valiants’ best chance came in the 27th minute. Midfielder Alfie Devine progressed the ball through the middle of the pitch before laying it off to Conor Grant. The wing-back then played Ethan Chislett in whose cross was met at the back post by Gavin Massey, but it was put over the bar from close range.
The rest of the first half consisted of some good last ditch Vale defending as Boro attempted to add a third.
The second half started off badly for Vale with Boro having the better of it and in the 53rd minute Matt Crooks scored to make it 3-0 to the visitors from Teeside. It got worse as three minutes later midfielder Ollie Arblaster was stretchered off after an initially innocuous looking challenge.
But that was all there was in the second half as we exited the Carabao Cup.
Port Vale| Connor Ripley, Kofi Balmer (Alex Iacovitti 51’), Ben Garrity, Ethan Chislett, Alfie Devine, Funso Ojo © (Ryan Loft 46’), Conor Grant, Jason Lowe (Tom Sang 77’), Ollie Arblaster (Rhys Walters 59’), Gavin Massey (Uche Ikpeazu 77’), Jesse Debrah
Unused Subs: Jayson Leutwiler, Nathan Smith, Rhys Walters, Baylee Dipepa, Ben Lomax
Middlesbrough| Tom Glover, Daniel Barlaser, Matt Clarke, Dael Fry, Immanuel Latte Lath (Isaiah Jones 46’(Calum Kavanagh 73’)), Morgan Rogers (Law McCabe 83’), Anfernee Dijksteel, Jonny Howson ©, Sammy Silvera, Matt Crooks (Alex Bangura 77’) , Lukas Engel
Unused Subs: Jamie Jones, Alex Gilbert, Hayden Coulson, Daniel Nkrumah, Bryant Bilongo