Jaheim Headley marked his home debut with a winning goal as the Valiants came from behind twice to beat Newport 3-2 in a thrilling match at Vale Park.
Vale almost made the perfect start to the game as just 25 seconds in Antwoine Hackford dispossessed away goalkeeper Jacob Carney in the Newport box, but he was quickly denied a shooting opportunity by two scrambling Exiles defenders.
In the tenth minute, it was the visitors’ turn to carve out a great opportunity when midfielder Kieron Evans thundered a long-range effort goalwards which crashed off the post before bouncing behind off Ben Amos.
Newport took the lead when the following corner wasn’t dealt with and the breaking ball bounced towards Bobby Kamwa at the back post, who made no mistake with a close-range header.
The Valiants came close to a leveller midway through the first half after two well-worked moves. First, Kyle John beat his defender down the right to break into the box before cutting the ball back to Ben Garrity, but the captain couldn’t connect well, and his shot was cleared. Then, Vale recycled the ball well resulting in Croasdale steering a John cross just wide.
Two minutes later, Vale continued to apply pressure, forcing Carney into his first save of the match. Ryan Croasdale chested the ball down before teeing up Garrity on the edge of the area, who struck comfortably into the arms of the Exiles’ number one.
On 29 minutes, the Valiants capitalised on their dominant spell when captain Garrity rose highest to meet Jaheim Headley’s corner and powered his header low into the net to equalise.
It continued to be all Vale as in the 31st minute Garrity slipped Headley in down the left and the January signing darted into the box before taking aim, but Carney collected the effort with a diving save.
One minute later, Newport regained their advantage against the run of play. Oliver Greaves whipped a long free kick deep towards the back post and Cameron Evans directed a header into the far corner.
Both sides kept creating chances in the latter stages of the first half, with Croasdale dragging an effort wide for Vale before Evans fired a close-range free kick narrowly over Amos’ crossbar for the visitors.
An extremely lively first half reached its conclusion after seven minutes of additional time - a period which saw Amos and Carney prevent either team from adding another goal. Newport’s stopper denied Hackford twice, including a crucial one-on-one save, and Amos parried away attempts from David Ajiboye.
The tempo of the opening 45 minutes persisted after the break as Vale nearly drew level immediately from kickoff when Tolaj controlled a delivery into the box and played it to Croasdale, but the midfielder blazed his shot high over the bar.
Despite leading, the visitors didn’t hesitate to continue to come forward with Kai Whitmore nearly adding a third with two strikes that drifted marginally over the Vale crossbar.
The Valiants enjoyed most of the ball and deservedly got back on equal terms for a second time on 62 minutes. Tolaj delivered a deep ball into the box from the byline, which was nodded down by Nathan Smith into the path of Stockley, and the substitute poked home.
The game became frenetic with Vale throwing everything at Newport to search for the decider. Stockley and Clark saw powerful strikes critically blocked by Carney in the Newport goal and sliding defenders respectively.
The Valiants looked the team more likely to find a winner and manged to do so with 13 minutes left when Headley cut in from the right and rustled the net with a fierce finish on his home debut.
Vale Park thought Darren Moore’s side had put the visitors out of sight after Smith connected with another header, this one looking destined for the corner, but Carney clawed the ball away remarkably.
There was more drama to come as with five minutes to play, Kyle Jameson received his second yellow card after stopping a Vale attack to reduce the visitors to ten men.
TEAM NEWS
Port Vale: Ben Amos, Mitch Clark, Nathan Smith, Ben Garrity ©, Jason Lowe (Rekeem Harper 46’), Ryan Croasdale, Lorent Tolaj (Ronan Curtis 90+1’), Kyle John, Antwoine Hackford (Jayden Stockley 46’), Jaheim Headley, Sam Hart (Tom Sang 55’)
Unused Substitutes: Nathan Broome, Ben Heneghan, Jemiah Umolu
Newport: Jacob Carney, Matthew Baker, Ciaran Brennan (Kyle Jameson 38’)’, Bobby Kamwa, Oliver Greaves (Tom Davies 84’), Cameron Antwi, Kai Whitmore (Michael Spellman 71’), Kieron Evans, Shane McLoughlin ©, Cameron Evans, David Ajiboye (Kyle Hudlin 71’)
Unused Substitutes: Lewis Webb, James Clarke, Geoffroy Bony
