Steve Shaw

Battling Port Vale secured a valuable point at Northampton this afternoon despite playing the majority of the second half with 10 men.

The game sprung in to life at the end of the first half when Valiant's keeper Chris Martin saved Adebayo Akinfenwa's penalty.

Moments later, vale earned their own spot kick which strikefr Marc Richards dispatched to net his 11th goal of the campaign.

Five minutes after the break, however, Akinfenwa got the chance to redeem himself from 12 yards when defender John McCombe was judged to have pulled him back in the box.

McCombe was given his marching orders before Akinfenwa calmy converted the resulting penalty.

Vale reverted from a 3-5-2 system back to 3-4-3 as right wing-back Adam Yates and Gareth Owen earned recalls.

Centre-half Owen handed Vale boss Micky Adams a huge boost by declaring himself fit little more than a fortnight after undergoing surgery on a fractured cheek bone.

In order to play the defender was once again forced to wear a protective face mask while Anthony Griffith partnered skipper Tommy Fraser in central midfield.

Meanwhile Rob Taylor was pushed up the pitch from left wing-back to play alongside Richards and Louis Dodds in a three-man attack.

Loan striker Sean Rigg served a suspension as midfielder Simon Richman took his place on the bench.

The visitors almost had to make a change within the first few minutes after Griffith clashed heads with Cobblers' midfielder Paul Rodgers.

The Valiant's midfielder initially looked out for the count before temporarily regaining his senses to continue.

A hectic opening five minutes ended with Rob Taylor bursting forward in the channel. His advances were only halted by Danny Swailes who clipped Taylor's heals to earn himself the game's first booking.

From the resulting set piece Cobblers' keeper Chris Dunn did well to parry Richard's effort from 25 yards.

Northampton's first shot on goal arrived within the 12th minute when good build up play from midfielder John Curtis and Akinfenwa led to skipper Ryan Gilligan blazing over from 20 yards.

Three minutes later Akinfenwa headed well wide meeting a corner from the right soon after Martin tipped over a ferocious angled drive from Courtney Herbert who had cut inside from the left drifting past defender Lee Collins.

While the host did their best to utilise their pace and power in the forward ranks, Vale passed the ball around nicely at times. But a crisp 20th-minute passing move amounted to nothing when Rob Taylor skied the balled into the away end from the edge of the box.

On 25 minutes, Griffith had to admit defeat in his battle to shrug off the grogginess inflicted by the earlier clash of heads and made way for fellow central midfielder Doug Loft. Around the half hour, Owen's careful 10-yard header, connecting with a Tommy Fraser corner, was comfortably cleared off the goal line by Gilligan.

Two minutes later, Akinfenwa connected with a Northampton corner to lay the ball on a plate for John Johnson whose 12-yard shot was snuffed out before Yates was able to clear. Rob Taylor continued a counter-attack down the right, and after cutting inside, laid the ball off to Loft who missed the target from 20 yards.

The first half appeared to be dying out before it exploded into life in the 44th minute when Northampton were awarded a penalty. It arrived when Rodgers played a neat one-two with Akifenwa before bursting into the box and tumbling over Fraser's out-stretched leg.

Martin came to Vale's rescue though by denying Akinfenwa's spot kick, diving to his left, and palming the ball to safety. Vale responded by winning their own penalty two minutes into first-half injury time when a Northampton defender misjudged a headed back-pass to Dunn. Dodds ran across Dunn to beat him to the ball before the keeper hauled him down.

Richards stepped up to calmly sweep the ball into the bottom right-hand corner from 12 yards.

The game's complexion completely changed five-minutes after the restart however, as the host played the ball through the middle into the path of Akinfenwa. McCombe, trailing by yards, clearly tugged backed the striker who went to ground.

The referee pointed to the penalty spot for the third time although it appeared McCombe's initial offence was committed just outside Vale's area.

Worse were to follow for McCombe who was deemed to be the 'last man' and was handed a straight red card for a professional foul. This time Akinfenwa made no mistake from the spot by producing a carbon-copy of Richard's penalty, sending the ball into the bottom right-hand corner. The defender's dismissal meant Vale were forced to revert to something resembling 4-4-1.

Akinfenwa was proving a handful and headed a 59th-minute corner wide. Enjoying a numerical advantage Northampton inevitably started to apply more pressure. However, Vale's revised formation suggested they were refusing to go into their shell. On 72-minutes Gilligan found space in the left channel, and with Collins in hot pursuit, watched Martin divert his low driven cross to safety.

Soon after, Gilligan found space on the opposite side of the box before squaring the ball to substitute Gary Mulligan.

But Martin stood tall to repel his stinging 12-yard effort.

On 81-minutes Vale's left wing-back Kris Taylor fired in a half-volley from 20-yards which whistled wide.

Two minutes later, Mulligan misfired from close range with the goal at his mercy as Vale held on for a share of the spoils.

Team:

Northampton: Dunn, Johnson, Beckwith, Swailes, Gilbert, (Mulligan, 55) Rodgers, Curtis, Gillighan, Benjamin, Akinfenwa, Herbert, (McKay 77). Not used: Dyer, Jacobs, Harris, Brown, Kanyuka

Vale: Martin, Yates, Owen, McCombe, Collins, K Taylor, Fraser, Griffith, (Loft, 25), Dodds, Richards, R Taylor

Not used: Anyon, Jarrett, Prosser, Howland, Richman.

Ref: Mick Russell (Hertfordshire)

Attendance: 4,132 including 314 visitors.