STUART FEARED THIS STALEMATE
BRADFORD City and Port Vale drew a blank as the points were shared during an entertaining opening-day clash at Valley Parade.
With both League One sides under new management and fielding a whole host of new players it was no surprise to see both look disjointed at times, although the hosts will wonder how they didn’t do more to test Vale goalkeeper Jak Alnwick.
Stuart McCall, who claimed his debuts always seem to end in a draw, saw his side put a new-look Vale defence under immense pressure early on, Billy Clarke struck the crossbar before Nicky Law curled a shot just over minutes later.
New signing Law would go closer still just after his first effort, running through on goal he dragged his shot wide of the far post before another new boy, Nathaniel Knight-Percival, saw his effort cleared off the line.
The visitors did produce half chances of their own, Paulo Tavares dragged an effort just wide whilst Anthony De Freitas saw his effort deflected agonisingly off-target.
Despite an impressive display from Mark Marshall on the wing, the usually reliable James Hanson struggled to produce the goods, sending several headers over the bar as a bright start soon turned frustrating.
And new Port Vale boss Bruno Ribeiro was happy with his side’s ability to hold on for a draw despite throwing a new team together in one summer.
He said: “I am very happy with the players.
“Bradford are a good team who are regularly in the playoffs.
“We didn’t start well and we had some problems at the back but we were much more solid defensively in the second half.
“We will keep working hard to improve.
“We stopped Bradford playing in the second half, we started winning more second balls with Anthony Grant and Paulo Tavares in the middle and I’m just really happy for my players.
“They’ve worked really hard and they deserve a good result.”
McCall meanwhile, will go away wondering how his side didn’t walk away with all three points on his return to Valley Parade.
He said: “We got a little bit desperate and tired towards the end of the game.
“I’m really pleased with the first hour or so because the tempo and the way we played was very good, but the most important thing in football is a goal.
“We got a lot of balls to the deadball line, we got balls in the box but we just tired towards the end.
“The likes of Hanson and Meredith were playing their first 90 minutes; we brought in young Daniel Devine and had to play Romain Vincelot at the back.
“A clean sheet is good for us, we nearly lost it right at the end but it was a nailed on draw for us. I think my last three or four debuts have been draws!”