Match report from the County Ground
Swindon Town v Port Vale
At The County Ground
August 2015thTuesday 18
League One
Attendance: 7,026 including 249 visiting supporters
minute.thA late, late penalty decision when the referee spotted handball inside the Swindon area saw Sam Foley earn Vale a point, firing home in the 96
Uche Ikpeazu got his first goal in Vale colours to equalise after Fabien Robert had put the Robins in front, but a second half strike from Anton Rodgers looked like being enough for the home side, until that late penalty changed everything.
Rob Page made one change to the side to face Swindon Town, bringing in Sam Kelly for the injured Enoch Andoh, while Ryan Lloyd joined the squad to replace Kelly on the bench.
Vale were looking to improve on their recent results against the Robins, who had come out on top in each of the last seven meetings between the two clubs.
The home side were having plenty of possession in the opening minutes of the game, spreading the ball right across the park nicely at times.
They were, however, making little headway against a well-organised and well disciplined Vale side who were coping well with Swindon’s style of play.
GOAL: minute when the home side got in behind the Vale defence with an angled ball from the right.thBut that was to change in the 13
lurking towards the far post with space and time to pick his spot, firing back across goal to tuck the ball away inside Alnwick’s left hand post.Fabien RobertIt found
It was the first goal Vale have conceded from open play this season and no doubt the coaching staff will be going over the match DVD time and time again when they report back to Vale Park.
GOAL: burst through the heart of the home defence in typical style, muscling his way past two defenders before firing low past Lawrence Vigouroux in the Robins’ goal.UCHE IKPEAZUSwindon managed to hold on to the lead for just eight minutes however, until
Vale were grateful for a mis-kick from goalscorer Robert who failed to connect to a low cross from the right by Nathan Byrne, but the visitors were very much still in the game.
A speculative 35 yard shot from Sam Foley at the other end failed to cause goalkeeper Vigouroux any problems.
Things threatened to get a little heated on the pitch as half time approached, with Ikpeazu the target of abuse from the home support for his part in things.
But the referee eventually managed to sort things out to restart play, with no cards shown to players of either side.
The home side looked particularly threatening at the commencement of the second half, yet Vale looked unruffled and soon began to cause problems of their own at the other end.
Then, with the home support appealing for an offside decision, the referee waved played on for Byron Moore to send in a low cross from the right and Louis Dodds, in the centre of the goal, just failed to connect.
Byron Moore then had a shot charged down on the edge of the box by Nathan Thompson, as Vale enjoyed their best spell of the game up to that point.
GOAL: minute.th found himself in space on the left and drove the ball low past the advancing Jak Alnwick in the 66Anton RodgersYet it was the home side who got the third goal of the game when
minute when Ajay Leitch-Smith, Colin Daniel and Ryan Lloyd took up their places in the eleven, replacing Louis Dodds, Uche Ikpeazu and Sam Kelly.rdVale made a triple substitution in the 73
minute, firing inches wide of Vigouroux’s right upright.thLeitch-Smith went close to levelling the score with a low 25 yard drive in the 87
stepped up and and hammered the spot kick straight down the middle to earn Vale a precious point.SAM FOLEY Then deep into stoppage time Vale were given a lifeline when the referee spotted a handball inside the box and immediately pointed to the spot. GOAL:
SWINDON TOWN: Tyrell Belford, Drissa Traore, Kevin Stewart, James Brophy, Lee Marshall, Bradley Barry, Miles StoreySUBS:Lawrence Vigouroux, Nathan Thompson, Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill,Fabien Robert, Michael Williams, Jordan Turnbull, Yaser Kasim, Michael Smith, Nathan Byrne, Anton Rogers, Raphael Rossi-Brando
PORT VALE: Sam Johnson, Remie Streete, Chris Birchall, Colin Daniel, Michael Brown, Ajay Leitch-Smith, Ryan LloydSUBS:Jak Alnwick, Ben Purkiss, Carl Dickinson, Richard Duffy, Uche Ikpeazu, Louis Dodds, Sam Foley, Byron Moore, Ryan Inniss, Sam Kelly, Anthony Grant.
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