Jamie Proctor’s late goal was not enough for Port Vale as Burton Albion secured all three points in a five-goal thriller at Vale Park.
Jonny Smith’s second-half penalty, and two goals from Dale Taylor, ensured the Brewers would take all three points back across the A50, despite goals from Ellis Harrison and Proctor for the Valiants.
Harrison gave Vale the perfect start, flicking home Aaron Donnelly’s dangerous cross-box header into the back of the net after just two minutes.
However, only six minutes later, the Brewers were level through Taylor, who finished expertly into the bottom lefthand corner from inside the box.
The Brewers were given the chance to take the lead from the spot only three minutes after the break when Smith was brought down in the area by Aaron Donnelly.
Burton’s number 11 stepped up to take the penalty himself, and made no mistake, firing the ball powerfully down the middle of the goal past Aidan Stone.
Taylor then gave the Brewers a two-goal cushion to seal the points just under 25 minutes from time when he swept home his second of the match from Smith’s cutback.
Substitute Proctor pulled a goal back for Vale from close range 10 minutes from time to give the Valiants hope, but unfortunately, Burton managed to hold on for the victory.
Darrell Clarke named an unchanged 11 from the team that drew away at Fleetwood Town last weekend, with James Wilson and Gavin Massey both getting minutes off the bench on their return to the matchday squad.
The match also saw a league debut in Vale colours for Derek Agyakwa, who replaced the injured Will Forrester in the 35th minute.
After a frantic start to the game, the visitors nearly found a second goal through Jonny Smith, but Stone produced a fantastic save at full stretch to keep the scores level.
The Vale Park crowd thought Matty Taylor had fired us back into the lead in the 19th minute, but it was the side netting that deceived them after our number 20 narrowly sent his strike wide of the post.
Vale responded well to going behind, and Sammy Robinson came close when he met David Worrall’s cross, however, his header was collected comfortably by Craig MacGillivray.
After pulling a goal back, the Valiants came close to an equaliser late on, but Wilson couldn’t quite latch on to Massey’s delightful cross.
Port Vale | Stone, Donnelly, Smith, Worrall, Conlon (62’ Politic), Ojo, Forrester (35’ Agyakwa), Taylor (62’ Wilson), Harrison (72’ Proctor), Pett, Robinson (61’ Massey)
Unused Subs | Stevens, Holden
Burton Albion | MacGillivray, Brayford, Hughes, Powell, Taylor, Kirk (85’ Walker), Smith (77’ Gilligan), Moon, Shaughnessy, Helm, Ashworth
Unused Subs | Amissah, Hewlett, Wakelin, Mancienne, Oakes
Attendance | 6,897 (609 away)