After a perfect week of results, the Valiants welcome Bromley to Vale Park on Saturday.
The Valiants come into the game off the back of a week of three wins over sides in the top ten. This run of wins began at local rivals Crewe Alexandra where Jayden Stockley’s header gave Vale all three points. In midweek Vale saw off Bradford City thanks to goals from Lorent Tolaj and Mitch Clark and a late penalty save from Ben Amos.
More recently, Vale travelled to league leaders Walsall and came away with all three points after a pulsating first half at the Poundland Bescot Stadium. Two goals from Lorent Tolaj and a Ben Garrity strike helped Vale to a 3-2 victory in the West Midlands which sent the Valiants to the top of the league, albeit only for a couple of hours.
Gaffer's Thoughts
Here’s what Darren Moore had to say following Saturday’s victory
“It was a really frantic, pulsating first 45 minutes. We raced to a one-goal lead and were then 2-1 down, credit to Walsall.
“Neither team could get their foot on the ball. The biggest thing I said to the players was about their character and resilience to be 2-1 down and then go into half time with a 3-2 lead. I thought we showed that in the second half and did really well because Walsall score late goals.”
The gaffer also spoke ahead of this weekend’s clash with Bromley
“There’s a wonderful atmosphere around the place as you can imagine with the recent results. We’ve always maintained looking at the one singular game in hand.
“After a good week, we have dusted ourselves down and continued to work this week because we look at the game we have Saturday. It’s another difficult opponent with a real experienced manager coming to town. I think they’re have done really, really well considering they have come up from the National League and the fact that they have got themselves into mid-table shows good work.”
The Opposition
Bromley have had a good first season in the EFL. After promotion from the National League last season, they find themselves sat comfortably in 12th place in the league table.
The Ravens come into the game off the back of a thumping 4-0 victory over Accrington Stanley on Saturday at Hayes Lane. Cameron Congreve opened the scoring on the half hour mark, before two second half Michael Cheek penalties and a goal from Ben Thompson earned Bromley their 14th win of the campaign. This victory against Accrington was their first win in five games after a run of three defeats and two draws.
Bromley have been pretty good on the road this season, picking up seven wins, seven draws and six defeats in their 20 away games. Their last win on the road came at the start of March when they beat AFC Wimbledon 1-0 thanks to Corey Whitely’s 76th-minute goal.
Who’s In Charge?
Former Premier League Goalkeeping coach Andy Woodman is the manager of Bromley. The former Arsenal head of goalkeeping joined Bromley back in 2021 and has enjoyed a successful stint to date. After taking over as manager in March 2021, Woodman guided his side to the Play-Offs where they would eventually be defeated.
In the 2021/22 season, Woodman turned down a move to Gillingham before guiding Bromley to FA Trophy triumph at Wembley Stadium. The success didn’t end there as Woodman helped Bromley to promotion to the EFL after winning the play offs in the 2023/24 season.
In Woodman’s 195 games for Bromley, he has won 85, drawn 62 and lost 48.
Player To Watch
33 year old striker Michael Cheek has set the league alight in his EFL debut season. He leads the scoring charts with 21 goals this campaign, four more than anyone else in League Two. Has he the second-highest goal tally in the four English divisions with only Mo Salah scoring more.
Bromley have two on-loan attacking midfielders who play either side in a 4-2-3-1. Daniel Imray is on loan from Crystal Palace and he has enjoyed a productive first season in the EFL. The 21-year-old has got seven assists and two goals from his right attacking midfield position. On the other side is Cameron Congreve who is on loan from Swansea City. The Welshman has found the net six times and also got assists in his 42 games played this season.
The only former Valiant in the Bromley side is Harry McKirdy. McKirdy signed for the Ravens in January and has since made six appearances, scoring two goals.
Last Time We Met
Bromley 0-0 Port Vale, Saturday 14th December 2024
The first and only ever meeting between the sides came back in December when the sides played out a goalless draw at Hayes Lane.
The hosts had the first chance of the game when Daniel Imray won the ball on halfway and used his pace to race clear and drive into the Vale box, has he got to the byline his cut back was flicked towards goal by Michael Cheek but Connor Ripley got down well to make a good save.
The Vale stopper was on hand to deny Cheek again soon after when he made an excellent close range save to deny Cheek’s goal-bound header.
Vale's first effort came when a cross from the left was cleared as far as Ronan Curtis who fired a deflected effort over the crossbar.
In the second half, Vale pushed for the opener and caught Bromley on the counter attack, Rico Richards broke free with the ball before setting up Antwoine Hackford who saw his effort well saved by the Bromley keeper.
The game’s controversial moment came with five minutes remaining, as Richards went through and saw a goal-bound effort cleared as far as Stockley, whose header comfortably crossed the line but the officials waved play on.
Following this bit of fortune, Bromley could have snatched the points at the death but Connor Ripley somehow managed to claw away Idris Odutayo’s close-range header.
