VALIANTS SHOW FIGHT
PORT Vale still have four games to play, but even so this goalless draw at Carlisle felt like the end of a chapter.
Darrell Clarke was certainly in reflective mood after the game as he considered how far this team has come since he took over in midfebruary – and prepares to make changes to look at different players with next season in mind.
The six-game winning run ended here, but there is no doubt the Vale have come a long way. After all, they were in relegation trouble at the start of this run but are now comfortably in 14th and, even in games like this when they’re not playing well, they still don’t look like losing.
This was their fourth clean sheet on the spin which is fitting considering this performance was about commitment, organisation and defensive strength rather than any moments of great quality at the other end.
Clarke’s priority was always making the team harder to beat, something that has been emphatically achieved, thanks in no small part to recalling Leon Legge and getting the best out of Shaun Brisley and Nathan Smith in a back three.
That trio epitomised the commitment Clarke is getting throughout the team.
He said: “It has been outstanding. We were a sinking ship weren’t we? Not long ago we were a sinking
ship, but that has changed dramatically hasn’t it? We aren’t soft, we are aggressive, we are hard to beat.
“We will be ugly to play against and there won’t be many teams that want to play against you when you are like that.
“Yes, we want to be better on the eye, as I keep reiterating, and we certainly will get better on the eye, over a period.
“But it has been job done so
far, but we want to continue that in the last four games.
“The lads are giving me everything. I come into the building – ‘Leggey’s shot, Brisley’s shot’ – the criticism these players were getting because they were out of form and everybody wanted to be on them.
“But they have responded great for me. They have come in and been absolute man mountains – and Smithy.
“It just goes to show that,
with a bit of an arm around them, a bit of belief into the lads and a bit of defensive structure, they can quickly gain that confidence back as individual players.
“We have certainly done that in abundance on our defensive side of it.”
Too right. The Vale’s run of four clean sheets is their best since 2010 when they went on to keep five under Micky Adams.
The back three were excellent here, but this performance was about the team rather than individuals, with some players sacrificing their own strengths to do their bit.
Dave Worrall is surely the best example of that. The 30-year-old grabbed plenty of headlines creating goals on the right or left of a front three under John Askey but, in order for Clarke to fit three centre-halves into the side, has curbed his attacking
instincts by playing right wing-back.
He actually started in a more central role here, he and Devante Rodney playing just off lone striker Theo Robinson in a 3-4-2-1 line up as Clarke reshuffled following Manny Oyeleke’s sale to Chesterfield.
But, typically of the game, Worrall’s most important contribution was sliding in with a goal-saving challenge to deny Gime Toure in the dying minutes after the ball had dropped to the substitute from a corner.
A goal then would have been hard on Vale who hadn’t done enough to win, but certainly deserved a point having limited the hosts to an early free-kick from former Valiant Callum Guy, pushed around the post by Scott Brown, and a succession of balls into the box which invariably found Legge, Smith or Brisley.
Vale didn’t create much either, their best chances coming when Brisley couldn’t quite connect properly with Worrall’s inswinging corner before the break, then a shot on the turn from Robinson well saved by Paul Farman early in the second half.
Worrall wasn’t the only player out of position. James Gibbons started at right wing-back but played the second half at left wing-back after Cristian Montano was forced off with a knock.
Clarke revealed that left back David Fitzpatrick will be out for the remainder of the season through injury so, if Montano doesn’t recover, Gibbons may have to continue on the left.
That said, it’s hard to predict the team for Tuesday’s game at Barrow because the manager wants to use the final games to give players a chance to play their way into his plans.
Mark Cullen and Harry Mckirdy could get a longer run out, having come on for the final 15 minutes here, and Tom Pope will be looking for more matchtime having marked his return from a broken arm by coming on as a substitute with only a minute to go.
‘Job done’ is a fitting description of Clarke’s first two months with safety achieved along with the club’s best winning run since 1996. If the manager really does make changes then the new chapter starts at Barrow on Tuesday.