VALIANTS EFFORT IS HAILED BY DARRELL
DARRELL Clarke was a satisfied man after his first match in charge of Port Vale produced a point at Leyton Orient.
Clarke was recruited by the Valiants from fellow League Two club Walsall earlier in the week and saw David Worrall put his new charges in front early in the second-half. However, their opponents levelled when Dan Kemp bagged his first goal for Orient since his move from West Ham last month.
“I was impressed by the effort,” Clarke said. “We won a lot of tackles, we won a lot of blocks and the commitment was fantastic. All those were positives.
“Was there much quality in us? No. Can we play a lot better? I think we can. There were a couple of moments where we showed that little bit of quality, but, obviously, we want to see a lot more of that. There was not a lot in it in the firsthalf and we had the best chance of the game through Alex Hurst.
“Leyton Orient are a very possession-based team and like to play out from the back. We came to frustrate them a little bit, which we managed to do. In the second-half, the game opened up a little. But we’ve taken a point and we move on.”
Orient have not won any of their last five matches and the goal by Kemp was their first in five games.
Head coach Ross Embleton was frustrated with the decision to allow Port Vale’s goal. “I felt there was a foul in the build-up to the goal as our player Tunji Akinola gets a headbutt,” he said.
“I was angry at the time and I have watched it since and Tunji gets a clear butt to the side of the head. The last time I checked, that’s a foul, but I was still disappointed how we didn’t deal with it.
“I thought it was a fairly even first half and Darrell had his team pumped, which we expected in his first game in charge. They huffed and puffed, as we did, but I felt second half it was a better game. We looked the better team and kicked on. I am pleased for Dan Kemp. He created well and found his way on to the scoresheet with an excellent finish.”
The Valiants created the best two chances in a scrappy first-half. Nathan Smith headed a corner wide, while Hurst was only denied by the outstretched foot of keeper Lawrence Vigouroux.
It took Vale two minutes to break the deadlock after the interval when Worrall created space in the box and steered a shot low into the corner of the net.
Orient levelled after 63 minutes when neat inter-passing between Kemp and James Brophy ended with Kemp striking low and hard into the net.
The teams then traded chances, with a Devante Rodney header grazing the crossbar, while Scott Brown blocked a shot from Danny Johnson and palmed away an effort from Conor Wilkinson.
The hosts squandered a chance to take all three points in added time when Dan Happe headed a corner over the bar.