Match report: Port Vale 1 Southend United 2
PORT Vale's slump in form continued when they crashed to a disappointing home defeat against Southend.
The out-of-sorts Valiants made it four games without a win at Vale Park and never truly deserved anything from the game.
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Micky Adams's Port Vale side have now gone four home games without a win.
Sean Clohessy's disputed penalty put the visitors ahead and Britt Assombalonga doubled the misery for Micky Adams's men before half-time.
Lee Hughes pulled one back as Vale, shocking in that first half, improved after the break. But it was never enough to repair the damage.
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Sam Morsy made his first start since New Year's Day in one of four changes to the team which drew against Bradford on Tuesday night.
He replaced the suspended Doug Loft in central midfield, while Chris Shuker came in on the left, having last played on January 5.
Lee Hughes was given another start up front, with Louis Dodds dropping to the bench, and Rob Taylor stepped in at left-back in the absence of knee injury victim Dan Jones.
But there was no place even on the bench for fit-again Ryan Burge.
Little had been seen of Vale as an attacking force before the visitors took the lead after 19 minutes.
Striker Assombalonga found space on the right and delivered a low cross into the penalty area. Darren Purse looked to have played the ball as he slid in on Stoke City loanee Matt Lund, but referee Darren Sheldrake felt otherwise and pointed the spot.
Sean Clohessy stepped up to ram the spot-kick into the top corner of the net.
And matters got much worse for Vale after 31 minutes when Lund found Assombalonga on the edge of the area.
The front man produced a sweet turn to leave Purse for dead before ramming his shot, via a deflection off Anthony Griffith, past a wrong-footed Chris Neal.
Still the Valiants failed to mount a serious response and they could have fallen even further behind on the stroke of half-time.
A high cross into the middle bounced back out to Ryan Leonard, whose terrific 25-yard strike bounced back off the underside of the bar with Neal well beaten.
John McCombe and Chris Birchall replaced Purse and Jennison Myrie-Williams at the start of the second half as Vale boss Micky Adams looked to shake his team into action.
Birchall at last provided a spark for the home side and his deflected shot was tipped over the bar by Southend keeper Paul Smith after 63 minutes.
And Vale had pulled one back a minute later. Shuker found space on the right to deliver an inch-perfect cross that was glanced in by Hughes from eight yards.
The home side were belatedly on the front foot and a series of corners stretched the Southend defence, though Birchall – in the thick of the action - scuffed an effort when well placed.
Birchall's cross was volleyed wide via a deflection by Hughes and the striker went close again after 83 minutes when his clever volley from a free-kick was only just gathered by Smith.
Morsy was just too high with an injury-time effort, but substitute Neil Harris then missed a chance to wrap it up when he dragged wide on the break.
Port Vale: Neal, Duffy, Purse (McCombe, 46), Chilvers, Taylor, Myrie-Williams (Birchall, 46), Morsy, Griffith, Shuker (Andrew, 87), Hughes, Pope. Subs not used: Yates, Dodds, Vincent, Williamson.
Southend: Smith, Clohessy, Cresswell, Prosser, Straker, Hurst, Spillane, Mohsni (Harris, 84), Lund, Leonard, Assombalonga (Corr, 84). Subs not used: Bentley, Woodyard, Eastwood, Spicer.
Referee: Darren Sheldrake (Surrey)
Attendance: 4,858
7 Comments
by peterpan1965
Sunday, March 10 2013, 5:38PM
“well well well , ive just had 24 hrs to recollect on our loss over southend ,,and i no things are not getting any better , at home , or for vale ,,,, but i notice , there is another team , in this division , who in the last ten games matched ,the vale , they have won three drawn three , and lost four , and they are sitting , in 24 th place , the team , is Plymouth , need i say more ,, there is something going on at vale park , although i cannot put my finger on ,it , behind the scenes ,,,,,,,,,,i can only think now teams are lining up too play the vale ,,,, its gonna be ,a tough time for vale , now ,, we will see what they made of ,,whether or not they withstand the test of time , an only ,time will tell ,,,,,,,,”
by Steeplejack3
Sunday, March 10 2013, 2:45PM
“Having followed Vale on and off for 43 years (mentioned not because I know anymore or less than any other supporter but that I have seen many years in the fourth div); more off in the last few years and they had finally got me to go back with some very impressive, attacking football but recent displays have me checking if these are the same players trying to play a different way decided by the manager or if they were not really that good in the first place. I expect I'm different from the usual follower in that it's the quality of the product that gets me to go not some sort of "it's my team so I will go regardless"; may be when I was a lot younger but not now, I work too hard to spend it at a whim. Anyway, I'm the same as some contributors in that I was a little concerned at what Micky had to say as I made my way home. "Enough points to not get relegated, then enough for the playoffs.....not my sort of thinking at all. I know these are not popular words but we were playing good, attractive football that was bringing the crowds in and keeping all happy; impossible to keep that level I suppose but the all set-up and set-out of the side has changed. We have to try to get back to the two wingers flying and zipping the balls into the center, if the lads who were doing it are a bit off at the moment, work on them in training. We are not set-up right at the moment. Trip to Rovers on Tuesday and York next week give us a chance to "get it back" but the safety gap is now gone and it's "at um" until the end of the season or we have no chance.”
by kilipo
Sunday, March 10 2013, 11:19AM
“we have gone from promotion to relagation form in a matter of weeks”
by jswords
Sunday, March 10 2013, 12:16AM
“Interesting mixed comments by Micky Adams after the game on P & G,
seems his target is now the play-offs, although he did take the blame for
team selection - it was probably the worst first half performance this Season,
slightly better after half time but Pope and Hughes combination is not working
and most supporters are wondering why Williamson cannot get a game,
Burge too, if as we hear, he is not injured.
It's worth a start for Birchall who was able to get some good crosses in the box.
We have to remain positive, and have some inspired performances from now on,
starting at Bristol, tuesday night.”
by stokeandvale
Saturday, March 09 2013, 8:50PM
“Where are the missing Thousands of fans?”
by Robnoxious
Saturday, March 09 2013, 8:47PM
“Next 2 games ,we have a chance to get back on track. This run can't last forever, as winning and picking up points could not last forever. We have shown better form away from home, so we should be confident of picking up points. Winning one of the games will ease the pressure, anything more will be a bonus. The important thing is to get back to winning ways. Winning becomes a habit,just
like losing. It's all about confidence and leadership now, and not just from the manager. We need
11 captains on the pitch,self belief and hard work. YOU CAN DO IT. Again over the next 2 sets of fixtures, teams around us will drop points. I Think 12 more points will get them promoted. Get behind them and keep the faith. Don't forget where we were at the beginning of the season, where anything was a bonus. KEEP WITH IT, YOUR TEAM NEEDS YOU MORE THAN EVER.”
by zxcvbn2
Saturday, March 09 2013, 7:59PM
“Oh dear just no end in sight to our loss of form. It seems anyone can take us out now and we don`t appear to have any idea just how we might end this horror. It seems that the new signings have failed to take us on to the end game because none of them have, possibly Jones excepted, have given a lead for the others to follow.”