The Valiants guaranteed their place in the knockout rounds of the EFL Trophy after a victorious penalty shootout at Vale Park.
Vale provided the visitors with an early warning sign three minutes into the game after James Wilson was threaded through on the left-hand side and with quick thinking spotted Aidan Harris off his line, but much to the relief of Newcastle’s keeper the lobbed attempt had too little on it and he collected it in his arms.
One minute later good play from Gavin Massey on the right saw him slip in Ethan Chislett who flashed a ball across the six-yard box, but Newcastle managed to clear their lines.
The Valiants kept pushing for an opener and nearly got their reward seven minutes in. Following a terrific tackle from Rhys Walters high up the field, the ball broke to Chislett who surged into the box before unleashing a low strike which Harris dealt with comfortably.
On 17 minutes Vale found the goal that gave them a deserved lead. Chislett swung a corner from the right into the area that bounced off Wilson and into the path of Jesse Debrah who slammed home from close range on the half volley, scoring his first goal for the club.
It took nearly half an hour for the visitors to register a chance, but they were presented with a golden one after a loose back pass looped over Jayson Leutwiler’s head before it was latched onto by Dylan Stephenson, however Newcastle’s striker steered his effort high and wide of the goal.
It continued to be total dominance for Vale after the deadlock was broken and a second goal nearly came on 38 minutes. Chislett, who was everywhere on the night, fizzed the ball into Newcastle’s six-yard box but after a few moments of chaos, it was cleared to safety.
Three minutes before the break Vale produced a brilliant team move which saw them all but double their advantage. The attack was initiated by Jason Lowe whose cheeky flick played Ben Garrity in behind on the right, our skipper was then able to find Massey in space the box who forced a diving stop from Newcastle’s stopper.
Due to injury stoppages the referee added nine minutes to the end of the 45, a period which saw a spree of Vale corners that resulted in chances that were margins away from inflicting more damage on the visitors.
First, it was Debrah connecting with Chislett’s delivery once more, however his headed effort was directed to the left and wide. Then, in the final minute of stoppage time Garrity towered over Newcastle’s defence from another set-piece, but he couldn’t convert as the ball sailed just over.
The Valiants picked up from where they left off at the end of the first half, and seven minutes after the restart came close to adding to their lead. Massey stormed down the right flank before picking out James Plant in the middle who fired his effort past a beaten Harris but inches wide of the target.
Plant called Harris into his first action of the second half on 54 minutes after he picked up a stray pass in the Newcastle defence and smashed an effort goalwards that required the visiting goalie to palm the ball out for a corner.
Walters was the next Valiant player to come close to doubling the advantage as he gathered the ball and drove towards Harris’ net before cracking an effort just over the crossbar.
As the game entered the final 20 minutes, Vale continued to hunt the goal that would put them out of sight and a great opportunity fell to Garrity who curled a shot goalwards from just outside the area which was swatted away for a corner by Harris.
Despite not creating much on the night, Newcastle capatilised on a rare opportunity in the 89th minute when, from a corner, the ball fell to Ellis Santon on the edge of Vale’s penalty area and he drove a low effort into the bottom right corner, equalising for the visitors.
In spite of the Valiants’ best efforts to grab a late winner, the referee blew for full time to indicate a penalty shootout between the sides.
The Valiants triumphed in the shootout by three penalties to two thanks to goals from Garrity, Lowe and Mitch Clark, on top of three fantastic stops from Jayson Leutwiler in the Vale net earning an extra point in our group.
Port Vale| Jayson Leutwiler, Mitch Clark, Ben Garrity, Ethan Chislett (72' Andrew Buah), Jason Lowe, Gavin Massey, James Plant (72' Liam Brazier), Jack Shorrock, Rhys Walters, Jesse Debrah (60' Kofi Balmer), James Wilson (40’ Baylee Dipepa)
Unused Subs: Connor Ripley, Tom Sang, Nathan Smith
Newcastle U21s| Aidan Harris, Lucas De Bolle (72' Ellis Santon), Nathan Carlyon (72' James Huntley), Remi Savage, Charlie Wiggett, Dylan Stephenson (84' Michael Ndiweni), Joshua Scott (46' Dylan Charlton), Jamie Miley, Amadou Diallo, Ben Parkinson (57' Kyle Crossley), Ciaran Thompson
Unused Subs: Rory Powell, Tyler Jones