Funso Ojo's second half penalty means the sides will do it all again at Vale Park for a place in the third round.
A cagey beginning as neither team came close to opening the scoring in the first 20 minutes. But from then on, the game opened up for the Valiants as we were having success down both wings. In the 25th minute Conor Grant received the ball on the left with space but his drilled shot inside the area was saved by Taye Ashby-Hammond.
We were forced to make an early change with James Plant being substituted due to an injury to his left arm on 28 minutes.
Four minutes later, Stevenage produced an effort following a long throw. Elliott List got his foot to the ball with his back to goal but his half volley didn’t trouble Connor Ripley as it flew over the bar.
The Valiants continued to look for the opener and came close on 33 minutes when Ethan Chislett got on the ball in the attacking third. The South African had time to turn and unleash a strike towards the far corner but the ball just went wide of the Stevenage left hand post.
11 minutes into the second half and the first real opportunity presented itself to Alex MacDonald following a corner for the hosts. The initial delivery was cleared as far as the midfielder but his strike from outside the area went well over Vale’s crossbar.
But with 68 minutes on the clock Stevenage took the lead through Jamie Reid. A through ball cut the Vale defence open and sent the striker one on one with Ripley and Reid placed the ball into the net for the opening goal of the game.
The hosts could have doubled their lead four minutes later following a corner as again the initial ball was cleared and fell to Dan Butler but once again the shot was off the mark.
But the Valiants brought themselves back into the game on 75 minutes when we were awarded a penalty. Substitute Uche Ikpeazu forced his way into the area and was brought down by a sliding challenge. Referee Tom Reeves took his time before awarding the spot kick. Funso Ojo calmly tucked the ball away into the bottom left corner to bring us level.
With four minutes of normal time remaining Luther James-Wildin tried his luck from distance but it was comfortable enough for Ripley. Neither team could find a late winner, which means we’ll have to do it all again at Vale Park later this month.
Stevenage | Taye Ashby-Hammond, Luther James-Wildin, Dan Butler, Carl Piergianni, Alex MacDonald (61’ Harvey White), Elliott List (61’ Aaron Pressley), Jordan Roberts, Terence Vancooten, Finley Burns (61’ Harrison Neal), Jamie Reid, Ben Thompson (83’ Nick Freeman)
Unused Subs | Krisztian Hegyi, Kane Smith, Reece Hannam, Charlie McNeill, Kane Hemmings
Port Vale | Connor Ripley, Tom Sang, Nathan Smith, Ben Garrity, Ethan Chislett (62’ Uche Ikpeazu), Funso Ojo, Conor Grant (62’ Ryan Loft), Jason Lowe, James Plant (28’ Gavin Massey), Rhys Walters (87' Alex Iacovitti), Jesse Debrah
Unused Subs | Jayson Leutwiler, Lewis Cass, Kofi Balmer, Tom Conlon, Baylee Dipepa