At the end of the last school year, our family was fortunate enough to win a pair of tickets (one adult and one child) to any one Port Vale home match of the 2019-2020 season. My wife has zero interest in football (possibly even less than that), and one of my children loves football, one has no interest and one is too young to appreciate it. So Lizzie and I won by default, and I opted for the home game against Cambridge United on Saturday 31 August.
This, like my report from Port Vale vs Stevenage from a few years ago (February 2011!), is more of an eyewitness report than match analysis.
The game started brightly under blue, cloudy skies. Vale had some very early chances and most of the early pressure. The team played well and the majority of the first 45 minutes was played in Cambridge's half. I don't recall Cambridge having any first-half chances, and it was mostly one-way traffic.
A couple of rare attacks along Cambridge's right wing were stopped by some strong physical defending, as the Vale left back and centre back were pushed, pulled back and occasionally got into a tussle with shirts being pulled and so on.
There was a period in the first half where the game threatened to boil over, and here I must blame the referee, who (in my own unqualified opinion) had a poor game. He missed a lot of the pushing and shoving that I've mentioned - from both sides - and failed to make the bookings that would probably have calmed things down and reminded the players of the rules. Port Vale's Nathan Smith was involved in a number of physical challenges against Cambridge attacker Sam Smith, and they both (in my view) came close to getting booked.
Port Vale continued to press, but the players went in at half time with no goals scored. Some of the fans near us viewed this as a glass-half-full situation, since Vale hadn't conceded either, and were on track for their first clean sheet of the season.
The referee didn't make any bookings during the first half, and consequently in the second half the game came very close to boiling over.
Cambridge United started the second half much more brightly and energetically and started gaining chances, but did not convert any of them. As the game opened up, Vale were able to make some headway down both wings. David Amoo constantly made his presence felt in the inside right position, and kept threatening to beat the Cambridge defence.
On the left wing, David Worrall was not having a great game. His work rate was excellent, chasing down any opportunities on the Vale left, but he failed to make any progress and his crosses were all easily collected by the Cambridge goalkeeper, Dimitar Mitov. Vale won a quick series of corners on the left hand side as the second half went on, but none of them produced any real chances, with Mitov proving excellent in goal and easily collecting any of the high crosses into the box.
On the right wing, there were some nice tight passing sequences as the Vale attack attempted to break down Cambridge's deep and persistent defence, and it was through the right wing that Vale eventually got their winner. David Amoo was able to break forwards and beat two defenders on his way into the Cambridge area; he got close to the by-line and sent a fast, low cross across the face of the goalmouth.
Retreating defender Davies beat his own goalkeeper to the ball and turned it in to the goal for an unfortunate own-goal. Vale were able to hold on to their lead for the final five minutes (plus stoppage time) and also achieved their first clean sheet of the season, so it was a double winner that consolidated their mid-table position and allowed them to set their sights on the top half of the table.
The game started brightly under blue, cloudy skies. Vale had some very early chances and most of the early pressure. The team played well and the majority of the first 45 minutes was played in Cambridge's half. I don't recall Cambridge having any first-half chances, and it was mostly one-way traffic.
A couple of rare attacks along Cambridge's right wing were stopped by some strong physical defending, as the Vale left back and centre back were pushed, pulled back and occasionally got into a tussle with shirts being pulled and so on.
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| Nathan Smith (left) keeps an eye on Sam Smith (centre) |
Port Vale continued to press, but the players went in at half time with no goals scored. Some of the fans near us viewed this as a glass-half-full situation, since Vale hadn't conceded either, and were on track for their first clean sheet of the season.
The referee didn't make any bookings during the first half, and consequently in the second half the game came very close to boiling over.
 |
| The referee attempts to deal with a scuffle without getting directly involved. |
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| The referee steps into another scuffle, but note the two players behind him STILL fighting over the ball. |
One petty incident involved a minor controversial scuffle - did he slip or was he pushed? - and one of the Cambridge players landed on the ball and stopped to pick the ball up as he was certain he'd been fouled. The Vale defenders argued that he hadn't been fouled, and had subsequently handled the ball immediately. A scrum of around seven or eight players followed, each side determined to get hold of the ball (literally). The referee failed to take charge of the situation, and remained an almost impassive bystander, only booking one or two of the players, when other officials may have gone further. It's always unfortunate when a referee manages to get himself noticed through his decisions - this was one of those games.
Cambridge United started the second half much more brightly and energetically and started gaining chances, but did not convert any of them. As the game opened up, Vale were able to make some headway down both wings. David Amoo constantly made his presence felt in the inside right position, and kept threatening to beat the Cambridge defence.
On the left wing, David Worrall was not having a great game. His work rate was excellent, chasing down any opportunities on the Vale left, but he failed to make any progress and his crosses were all easily collected by the Cambridge goalkeeper, Dimitar Mitov. Vale won a quick series of corners on the left hand side as the second half went on, but none of them produced any real chances, with Mitov proving excellent in goal and easily collecting any of the high crosses into the box.
Retreating defender Davies beat his own goalkeeper to the ball and turned it in to the goal for an unfortunate own-goal. Vale were able to hold on to their lead for the final five minutes (plus stoppage time) and also achieved their first clean sheet of the season, so it was a double winner that consolidated their mid-table position and allowed them to set their sights on the top half of the table.
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