The Valiants start a run of three away fixtures as we travel to Peterborough United this evening.
Vale come into the game off the back of Saturday’s 2-2 draw at home to Stevenage. Vale took the lead the sixth minute when Gavin Massey’s low cross was turned home by Stevenage defender Terence Vancooten. Seven minutes after break Jamie Reid bundled the ball home from close range to level the scores. Vancooten then made amends for his earlier own goal as he fired his side into the lead with a calm finish from inside the box.
Deep into stoppage time, Vale were given then chance to rescue a point when Tom Sang’s cross struck the arm of Dan Butler in the box and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Funso Ojo stepped up and calmly dispatched the penalty to earn Vale a share of the points in the most dramatic fashion.
The Opposition
Peterborough currently sit in fifth place in Skybet League One with 56 points from 31 fixtures so far. However, they come into the game off the back of three consecutive defeats. In their last outing, they were beaten 5-2 by Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park. The hosts went 3-0 up before David Ajiboye and Ricky-Jade Jones gave The Posh a glimmer of hope.
However, Wycombe scored twice in the final fifteen minutes to take the game beyond Peterborough’s reach. Peterborough have scored the most goals in League One so far, they have found the net 59 times this season which is an average of 1.9 goals per game.
Player to Watch - Harrison Burrows
Burrows has had a productive season so far with nine assists and fours so far. He comes into the game with four goal involvements in his last six games. Another player to keep an eye out for is Ephron Mason-Clark.
He is the club's top scorer with ten goals so far this season, Mason-Clark has also pitched in with five assists. In January he signed for Coventry City but was immediately loaned back to Peterborough United to help them in their quest for promotion.
Fixture Throwback
Peterborough United 2-3 Port Vale, Saturday 12th March 2016.
Peterborough took the lead after just two minutes when Jon Taylor slotted home from close range. Just before half time Aaron Williams doubled his side lead when he got on the end of the long ball to volley his side into a two goal lead.
However, just after the break the Vale hit back when Byron Moore cut onto his left foot to fire into the bottom corner to give the Valiants a glimmer of hope. In the 86th minute Vale levelled the scores when JJ Hooper headed home Ryan McGivern’s cross at the near post.
In the 89th minute, Vale completed a dramatic turnaround when Louis Dodds’ low effort deflected over the keeper and into the back of the net to send the travelling fans into raptures.