[Gary B]

Vale win through in five-goal thriller despite late alarms.

Foyle sprang a surprise by giving Walsh a start following recent appearances on the bench with Fortune giving way. Foyle said in his usual pre-match team-sheet interview on BBC Radio Stoke that Fortune had been off the pace recently and was responsible for the MK Dons goal on Tuesday. Lowndes had not recovered from the injury he received in that game. It meant Vale had Goodlad in goal and a back four of McGregor, Pilkington, Walsh and James. Cummins, Sonner and Togwell were the genuine midfielders with Smith and Birchall wide, leaving Constantine effectively as the lone striker.

Vale looked up for this one from the start. On 7 minutes Constantine made space for a shot which was saved comfortably by Gueret.

On 10 minutes Birchall received the ball at the far post and from an accute angle brought a fine save out of Gueret.

Vale were having the better of things but Britton hit one effort over the bar and Knight had another shot deflected over the Vale bar.

Just after the half-hour James crossed but Constantine's header went just wide.

On 39 minutes I thought Swansea had taken the lead. Trundle crossed from the left and Tudur (yes, that is how he spells it!) Jones headed just wide. It must have been some kind of optical illusion but I was not alone in thinking that from our position that the ball had entered the far corner.

It looked as though it was going to be goalless at the interval but on 43 minutes Vale scored a lovely goal. The excellent Sonner sent Birchall away down the Vale right. He crossed accurately for the flying Togwell to head emphatically into the net with Gueret hardly bothering to move.

Vale almost scored again before half-time but Cummins hit an effort just wide.

The second half did not open well for Vale. On 47 minutes Trundle made space in the area before lifting the ball towards the far post where Akinfenwa headed in from very close range. Easy to say, as most Managers do of goals they have conceded, that it was a poor goal but I am afraid it was : entirely preventable.

On 52 minutes Monk looked likely to give Swansea the lead when his header from a Trundle cross was well-saved at the second attempt by Goodlad.

Swansea were beginning to have the better of things when Vale took the lead at a time when they were not threatening much. Birchall gave the ball to Togwell who played a short pass to Cummins, centrally-placed just outside the penalty area. He took aim before firing a powerful shot which Gueret got a hand to but the shot had such pace it flew into the net. Having since seen it on TV it is obvious the keeper had no serious chnace of stopping the ball.

On 63 minutes Vale increased their lead with another great goal. Smith received the ball on the left and raced past his marker and continued down the line before crossing into the area. The cross was met by Constantine who headed powerfully past the keeper, giving him no chance. He was the second ex-Torquay striker to score in the game.

On 65 minutes a shot by Akinfenwa was well-stopped by Pilkington but Togwell almost increased Vale's lead with a header which went just wide.

After one chase across his own area Walsh suddenly looked pretty tired after his exertions and on 74 minutes was replaced by Fortune. The crowd gave Walsh a great ovation but he did not respond to it, of which more later.

On 83 minutes McGregor, having a fine game, hit an effort just wide of the far post.

On 86 minutes sub Robinson brought a leaping save out of Goodlad.

On 89 minutes Swansea reduced the arrears. Trundle's shot looped off Pilkington and the ball fell to sub Fallon at the far post and he had a simple task in pushing the ball into the net.

One minute later Trundle almost equalised. His shot looked certain to enter the net but McGregor appeared on the scene and lunged forward and cleared the ball off the line.

During the three minutes of added time Vale did their best to concede an equaliser. The ball reached Trundle in the area and he was well-placed to score but only succeeded in hitting the bar above the head of Goodlad and the ball bounced clear.

Vale had 48% of the possession, 6 on-target efforts to their 9, 6 off-target to their 6 and 4 corners to their 7. There were no bookings. Ref Curson did OK and did not resort to unnecessary card-waving. Several times players tried to take free-kicks when the ball was still moving. On every occasion he insisted on this being done properly : quite right even if the players objected to it. The attendance was 4850 including several hundred from Swansea, though far less than appear willing to travel the longer trip to Blackpool next week. What is wrong with Burslem? Don't answer that. There were five substitutions with Fortune coming on for Walsh and just before the end Lee Matthews put in a brief appearance for Constantine. For Swansea Martinez, Robinson and Fallon replaced O'Leary, Knight and Britton. Fallon scored his usual goal against the Vale but he had little time for his routine guitar-strumming celebration this time.

This was a magnificent game to watch and one which I think Vale just deserved to win. Only Vale's failure to shut the game down more effectively at 3-1 looked likely to prove costly. This is an issue which has been raised before. I hope in time for next season Vale can learn to defend in the opposition half of the field rather than drop everyone back in the manner of FC Basle against Middlesbrough last Thursday which was their own undoing. It is not the first time this season that Vale have faced undue pressure late in a game because of the lack of such a system. Nevertheless, Vale turned in a superb performance which assures them a place in this division next season. They displayed hunger, passion and skill, qualities which were lacking during that awful run of home defeats around Christmas.

The weather was horrible in the first half. During the morning the weather had been spring-like but by 2 pm things were changing. When the match started it was raining heavily, blowing very hard and it was bitterly cold but it cleared up again during the second half. It made life difficult for the steel band (though the players made light of it) which tried to play. I'm afraid I could not hear their efforts from my position in the Railway Stand. The visiting attache, Ashley Ford, from the Trinidad and Tobago Commission made a speech praising the Vale and Birchall. He must have been impressed with what he saw.

Everyone played well so again Man of the Match was going to be a tricky selection, though Sonner was not a choice to upset anyone. He was always involved, breaking down Swansea attacks and passing to others. He did not look the veteran that he is. Foyle would not be committed after the game on contracts for him or anyone else. Personally, I would give Sonner another year, though I am sure he can be a pain to Foyle at times, as he has been to previous managers. Sonner certainly knows how to work a crowd, as he does before games when going towards them to clap them. He contributes rather more than Dinning these days. Smith and Birchall did really well on the flanks, so much so that the Swansea full-backs were too busy dealing with them to engage in any serious overlapping. Both wingers provided crosses for goals, the one for Togwell and that for Constantine. Togwell has become a permanent fixture in the side. He lacks real pace but is a true box-to-box man, as is Cummins, who is finding the net as often as he did a few years ago. McGregor had a good match and saved Vale with his clearance off the line. Walsh did well on his return and Pilkington was as immaculate as ever. In all of my years of watching the Vale I cannnot recall a defender who played to such a high standard with such consistency. I voted for him as my Player of the Season before the game, as I did last year, despite the claims of the likes of Goodlad. Pilkington, Goodlad, Cummins and Togwell would be "good news" signings if we could keep them but despite Foyle's increased budget there are other clubs which could offer these players more money.

I was not impressed with what Walsh said to the media afterwards. To some extent it is the fault of the negative line of questioning of the "Do you think you have silenced your critics? " type, which so often attracts a childish and paranoid reponse from players. Instead of emphasising how delighted he was to be back he chose to condemn his own critics and is clearly not happy with physio Ian Baddiley. Walsh praised the Vale Youth Physio and the treatment he received at Crewe but pointedly omitted any favourable reference to Baddiley. I think Walsh will be offered some kind of monthly or pay-as-you-play contract. Although it is no excuse for any alleged incompetence by Baddiley perhaps Walsh might recall the double personal tragedy suffered by Ian a few months ago, for which we had a one-minute silence at Vale Park. Unless Walsh gives up the game (no-one else will risk him) I don't think he will be able to turn this down given the fact that he has played only a handful of games in recent years. He sounds a very embittered person.

The Vale pitch is not perfect but far better than many Premier League ones I've seen recently, including that of Middlesbrough. Steve Speed does a great job with few resources. Vale are hoping to get a Reserve team going again and for good reason but the absence of other fixtures on the main pitch has doubtless contributed to the quality of the pitch at this late stage of the season. I doubt that official Reserve games could be played on the training ground because of rules about enclosing the pitches etc.

Walsall next week. Vale should take a big following and many fans would doubtless love to see the team helping to send Walsall down. Personally, I would like to keep Walsall and get rid of one of these distant ones, such as Hartlepool. Walsall, like Tranmere, have been a real bogy side over the years, but so have Hartlepool in recent times.Foyle will surely attend the Walsall v Bournemouth game on Tuesday, enabling him to watch both of our next two opponents.

Eddie

[Eddie]

By the way, just to put the record straight, I did not mean to suggest that Togwell had contributed to the Swansea equaliser! That privilege I accord to Trundle!

Eddie

[kirsty]

Thanks for the report Eddie. I cannot believe the stats on the game. Not that I'm suggesting you're fibbing, just that I expected to read that Vale had a lot more possession, which I was sure they did. Near the very end they did sit back a bit and it looked as though Swansea were about to equalise, but other than that I felt that Vale had most of the play, and certainly more shots.

I'd not heard the Walsh interview, but think it's dissapointing if he made it obvious that he's unhappy with the Vale physio so publically. I think that seeing Walsh return from Crewe in such a fit state says a lot for itself without Walsh giving across his own views on the radio. Still, it was brilliant to see him back and as good as ever.

[Tosh]

A great game of football and I agree with Eddies analysis, especially his view on Sonner! We are by far a much better side when he plays. I'm still seething that he didn't get the nod at Villa Park!!!!!!!!! :sneaky: