Just seven days after the sides met in the Carabao Cup, Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra meet again on Tuesday in the EFL Trophy
The Valiants come into the game off the back of their third straight league win after beating Oxford United 2-1, in dramatic fashion.
After a relatively uneventful first hour, the game sparked into life after Oxford striker Mark Harris was shown a straight red card in the 63rd after an off-the-ball incident which the officials spotted and swiftly took action.
Just ten minutes later, Vale made their man advantage count when Alex Iacovitti headed home his first goal for the club with a glancing flick at the near post.
In the 93rd minute, Oxford thought they had snatched a point late on when Greg Leigh tucked home a cross from the left. Just minutes later, Leigh went from hero to zero after he picked up a second booking for a late tackle on Mitch Clark.
In the 98th minute, Ben Garrity was brought down in the box and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Alfie Devine stepped up for Vale and calmly slotted home the penalty to spark bedlam in the away end and earn The Valiants another three points on the road!
Crosby’s Comments
Andy Crosby spoke to the media after his side's 2-1 victory at Oxford United
“Credit to the players to respond in the second half. We weren’t great first half, turned the ball over too much. Kept a really good team allowing them to dominate the ball we couldn’t get out of the low-block.
"But again, we stuck together, we defended balls into the box, we kept tracking people, we kept heading it, we kept trying to win duels and then we kept giving the ball back to them so we started that process over again.”
Last Year's EFL Trophy Campaign
Last season, Vale were placed in Group C along with Stockport County, Shrewsbury Town and Wolves U21s.
Vale’s first game of the competition was against Stockport County and we ran out 1-0 winners thanks to Chris Hussey’s goal just after the hour mark.
Next up was a trip to Shropshire to face Shrewsbury Town. Dennis Politic’s hat-trick and Brad Walker’s thunderbolt helped the Valiants run out 4-0 winners in a game where 15-year-old Jack Shorrock became the club's youngest-ever player when he made a substitute appearance in the second half.
The final group game was against Wolverhampton Wanderers Under 21’s. After an uneventful first 80 minutes, The Valiants took the lead through Mipo Odubeko in the 81st minute, before Mal Benning doubled Vale’s lead in the 87th minute to ensure that The Valiants comfortably topped the group with maximum and without conceding a goal.
In the Round of 32 the Vale were given a home tie against Barnsley. Dennis Politic opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a left-footed strike from the left side of the box. Ten minutes later, David Worrall doubled Vale’s lead after he finished off a fantastic team move with a finish at the back post. Tom Edwards pulled a goal back for The Tykes with a deflected effort in the 73rd minute. However, the Vale managed to hold on and progress into the Round of 16.
Vale were due to visit Salford City in the round of 16 on the 13th of December, however, this was abandoned due to a frozen pitch. A week later, the game took place and Salford ran out 1-0 winners thanks to Matt Smith’s header after just ten minutes.
The Opposition
The Railwaymen currently occupy 11th place in Skybet League Two after picking up two wins, one loss and three draws from their six league games so far.
On Saturday, they picked up a comfortable home win against MK Dons where they ran out 3-1 winners. Jonathan Leko gave the visitors the lead after just eight minutes. The Crewe fans had to wait until the hour mark to see their side level the scores when Connor Thomas fired home a low strike from the edge of the box. Seven minutes later, Courtney Baker-Richardson put The Alex ahead when he was on hand to poke home from close range. Chris Long then rounded off the scoring in the 90th minute with a smart finish from inside the area.
Last time we met
Port Vale 0-0 Crewe Alex (Port Vale won 2-0 on penalties, Tuesday 28th September 2023.
The sides last met just seven days ago in the Carabao Cup. Crewe had the better of the first half and should have been a goal ahead after ten minutes but Rio Adebesi fired over from point-blank range.
The Vale got going in the second half and we’re very unlucky to not win the tie in the 90 minutes. James Wilson was twice thwarted by Harvey Davies in the Crewe goal. The game eventually went to penalties and after Crewe missed all four of their spot kicks and James Wilson and Ollie Arblaster scored for the Vale the shootout ended 2-0 to earn The Valiants a Third Round home tie against Sutton United.
Player to Watch - Courtney Baker-Richardson
After missing the first part of the season through injury, Baker-Richardson made a goal-scoring return to The Alex side on Saturday.
The former Swansea youth player made a name for himself whilst he was at Newport County where he found the net 8 times in 32 appearances in the 2021/22 season. He was then snapped up by Crewe in the summer of 2022 and despite picking up a few injuries, he’s managed to score 9 times in 37 appearances for the Railwaymen. Baker-Richardson is looking for match fitness so he may feature in the EFL Trophy fixture.
How to Watch
Tickets for the fixture are available to purchase online and at the ticket office up until kick-off. Only the Lorne Street and Hamil Road Stands are open for home supporters.
The game is also available on iFollow the Vale. Supporters can purchase their video or audio from the iFollow website.