Match Report: Dartford 1, Port Vale 1

Dartford 1, Port Vale 1

By Steve Shaw

JOHN McCombe spared Port Vale's blushes at Princes Park this afternoon as his late equaliser earned his side a 1-1 draw at non-league Dartford.

League Two Vale were poor for much of this FA Cup first-round clash at Dartford who play two levels below them in the Blue Square South.

Elliot Bradbrook swept the hosts into a deserved first-half lead, but a replay will be needed after McCombe levelled matter on 82 minutes.

One positive to come out of a difficult afternoon in Kent was the return of flying winger Lewis Haldane.

The flying winger made his first appearance of the season from the bench – four months after being hospitalised by an infected insect bite on his ankle.

But Vale were dealt a blow in the build-up when 10-goal striker Marc Richards was ruled out after failing to recover from a knee injury.

Meanwhile, Vale boss Micky Adams recalled midfielder Tommy Fraser, while on-loan Bradford striker Jake Speight was ineligible.

Adams also welcomed back central midfielder Anthony Griffith who returned from suspension.

Vale were abysmal during the opening 45 minutes and the under-dogs were good value for their one-goal lead at the break.

Adams was breathing fire in the technical area as his side failed to match Dartford's commitment and superior attacking play.

Tony Burman's determined outfit came flying out of the traps to leave Vale shell-shocked.

And Dartford almost took a third-minute lead after the dangerous Ryan Hayes sent striker Danny Harris clear with a precise through ball.

Harris beat Vale stopper Stuart Tomlinson to the ball but his low shot was cleared off the line by McCombe's desperate sliding intervention.

Hayes angled a free-kick just wide of the far left-hand post a minute later.

Vale settled down but were still second best in many 50-50 challenges, plus they failed to make their presence felt in midfield.

Adams's men came to life for all the wrong reasons in the 25th minute when Gary Roberts's late challenge on Michael Shinn sparked a melee on the half-way line.

Thankfully, the 'brawl' was limited to just a bit of pushing before Roberts received a yellow card before Dartford midfielder Lee Burns fired well wide from 20 yards.

McCombe came to his side's rescue again on 32 minutes. Dartford defender Paul Goodacre met a corner but his goalbound header was cleared off the line by McCombe.

Dartford striker Carl Rook hit a tame eight-yard shot into Tomlinson's hands before Fraser headed onto the roof of Dartford's net.

The hosts took a well-deserved lead from a 39th-minute free-kick.

Bradbrook connected with Hayes's low right-flank delivery to guide his eight-yard shot into the bottom right-hand corner.

Adams responded at half-time by making a triple substitution as defender Lee Collins, Roberts and striker Justin Richards were replaced by Kris Taylor, Rigg and Haldane respectively.

The changes meant Vale switched from a 3-5-2 system to 4-4-2 as Haldane and Rigg were thrown up front.

But Dartford once again set the pace at the start of the second half as Goodacre's eight-yard header fell into Tomlinson's arms.

Vale striker Louis Dodds fired wide with a 16-yard shot before Rigg's header was easily collected by Dartford's under-worked keeper Andrew Young.

Vale were at last starting to show signs of life, although Hayes's 25-yard free-kick flew just over on 67 minutes.

Spaces were beginning to open up all over the pitch as Vale went into search of an equaliser.

Both sides struggled to create chances though as Taylor's wild 80th-minute effort went wide, before Rook's 25-yarder shot also missed the target.

Moments later, Dartford threw on striker Charlie Sheringham – the son of former England forward Teddy Sheringham.

But Vale's dogged determination finally saw them snatch an equaliser from an 82nd minute corner.

Griffith met the set-piece with a header before McCombe turned to smash the ball home from six yards.

Match stats

Teams:

Dartford: Young, Burgess, Champion, Goodacre, Bonner, Hayes, Shinn, Burns, Bradbrooke, Harris, Rook (Sheringham, 81).