Late Ronan Curtis stunner rescues a point in Gloucestershire for Darren Moore’s table-topping Valiants.
Connor Hall was the first player to have his name taken for a late challenge on George Miller in the tenth minute, but the resulting free kick was fired straight into the wall by Jordan Thomas.
As the first half reached the fifteen-minute mark, a short corner Vale found Sang on the edge of the area who whipped in a trademark cross onto the head of Tolaj, but his glancing effort went well wide of Day’s goal.
Seconds later, Ryan Croasdale surged through the midfield and played Sang in on goal who rounded Joe Day in the Cheltenham goal, but his cutback was cleared well before a Vale player had the chance to tap the ball into the back of an empty net.
Cheltenham’s first real chance of the game came 24 minutes in as Jordan Thomas played a pin-point low cross across the Vale box, but the arriving Jude-Boyd could only find Ripley’s side netting.
With 37 minutes on the clock, Conor Grant came forward down the Vale’s left and found the head of Stockley with a cross, but the target man failed to find the target in what proved to be the final chance of the half.
HALF TIME: Cheltenham Town 0-0 Port Vale
Vale started the second half brightly with a clear intent to break the deadlock early on and had a good chance to take the lead in the 48th minute. Grant evaded a number of challenges as he broke into the area and sent a cross onto the head of Stockley, but Vale’s number nine couldn’t find the target under pressure from the Cheltenham backline.
The hosts took the lead in the 50th minute after a goal-line block fell kindly for George Miller who made no mistake from close-range.
Darren Moore made his first changes of the evening with an hour on the clock as a triple substitution saw Ronan Curtis, Rico Richards and Sam Hart all introduced as Vale went in search of an equaliser.
All three of the substitutes combined in the next real chance for the Vale as Curtis sent Hart away down the Vale left before the latter cut the ball back to Richards inside the area, but Day spread himself well to stifle the goal-bound effort.
Moments later, Chislett latched onto a long clearance and looked to be in on goal before being brought down by Bakare who was shown a yellow card as a result.
With 85 minutes on the clock, Ryan Croasdale had his name taken by the referee for a late challenge whilst attempting to win the ball back from a loose pass.
Ronan Curtis came close to levelling the scores with a cross-cum-shot from the Vale left in the 87th minute which floated agonisingly wide of Day’s post.
As the game looked to be heading towards defeat for Darren Moore’s side, Ruari Paton found Ronan Curtis on the edge of the area before he unleashed a ferocious effort into the top right-hand corner of the Cheltenham Town net to rescue a point at the death!
FULL TIME: Cheltenham Town 1-1 Port Vale
TEAM NEWS
Cheltenham Town: Joe Day (GK), Arkell Jude-Boyd, Liam Kinsella, Tom Bradbury, Luke Young ©, George Miller (78’ Matty Taylor), Jordan Thomas, Joel Colwill (90’ Levi Laing), Ibrahim Bakare, Ethon Archer (78’ Tom Pett), Sam Stubbs
Unused Substitutes: Owen Evans (GK), Manni Norkett, Ryan Bowman, Liam Dulson
Port Vale: Connor Ripley (GK), Ben Heneghan, Connor Hall ©, Nathan Smith (62’ Sam Hart), Jayden Stockley (78’ Benicio), Ethan Chislett, Conor Grant (62’ Ronan Curtis), Ryan Croasdale, Lorent Tolaj (62’ Rico Richards), Tom Sang, Kyle John (70’ Ruari Paton)
Unused Substitutes: Ben Amos (GK), Jason Lowe
