HARD-WORKING VALE
TWO games in is very early to be talking about Port Vale as promotion challengers, but this win felt like the team making a statement.
Even more exciting is the fact John Askey believes they can play better.
To summarise, the Vale won away to an Exeter side that hadn’t lost at home for 12 months, have reached the play-off final in three of the last four years and had kicked off their season with a draw away to title favourites Salford.
Vale kicked off their own season with a routine 2-0 win at home to Crawley, but this was going up a level.
This is quite a start by a team who already look better than the Vale side that finished eighth last season.
It would be unfair both to Vale and Exeter to say this win was comfortable for Askey’s players.
Exeter are a better team than that, and ‘comfortable’ would ignore the tremendous effort from every member of the Vale side.
The work rate was remarkable, the outstanding feature of their performance which is saying something considering the game featured a super goal from Tom Conlon, a fine finish from Devante Rodney and a breathtaking save from Scott Brown.
Exeter inflicted one of only eight league defeats the Vale suffered last season but Askey’s side have clearly developed from the team that lost 2-0 at St James Park last September.
The Vale boss felt his team were ‘bullied’ on that occasion, outfought and not strong enough to cope with a quality side at this level.
The difference this time was obvious. In fact, Exeter manager Matt Taylor made that point, saying: “The scoreline is 2-0 and their two goals hurt me more than anything, but the way in which they came out on top too often in terms of the competitive aspect of the battle is disappointing in my point of view.”
He added: “I felt they were on top in too many of the individual battles, and that soon became a collective. We still moved the ball at times, but we played a little bit more at two down and we need to do that from minute one.”
The only shame was there weren’t fans in to see it. That might have made Vale’s task tougher, but this win still felt like a significant achievement against a side that kept the ball well in the second half to test a defence that has yet to concede in the league.
Scott Brown had to come to the rescue before the break with a fine save with an outstretched leg to deny Ryan Bowman on a rare occasion the dangerous striker got free of Leon Legge and Nathan Smith.
But Vale, playing in their new all-green third kit, provided the moment of the half on 21 minutes when Manny Oyeleke was brought down 25 yards out and Conlon bent the free-kick beautifully over the wall and into the top corner.
Exeter upped their game at the start of the second half, but were met by a Vale side who worked ferociously behind the ball until the pressure was relieved on 72 minutes when Conlon’s through-ball sent Rodney sprinting behind the defence.
Rodney had started on the left wing and been moved to the central striker position moments earlier when Mark Cullen was taken off. He made the most of that opportunity, combining the pace to get away from the defender with the composure to beat keeper Lewis Ward to make the game safe.
Well, almost safe. Exeter seemed to have given themselves hope late on when Ben Seymour met a cross from the right with a volley goalwards from six yards. He was denied by Brown with a save that was part reflexes, part anticipation and possibly part magic as he flew across his line to deny the home side a way back into the game.
It would be easy to say Brown is responding to the competition from new keeper Dino Visser who has been excellent in his games in the Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy.
But that’s unfair to Brown who has been playing like this, making saves like this since he joined the Vale two years ago.
The difference this year is Vale have strength in depth in every position, including goalkeeper, and so aren’t in danger of collapsing if two or three key players suffer injuries or suspensions.
Askey had Visser, Adam Crookes, Danny Whitehead, Harry Mckirdy, Theo Robinson, Cristian Montano and Scott Burgess on the bench – with James Gibbons and David Amoo close to returning from injury, and Tom Pope now only two matches away from completing his ban.
Vale’s squad isn’t huge, but is full of players who can hold their own in the first team.
The manager was thrilled with the result but says his side can keep the ball better. The prospect of the Vale improving on this performance is an exciting one for their supporters. Not so much for the rest of the division.