The Wonder Of P.V.F.C.: Port Vale Vs Manchester United 25th July

Ok then lets get the bullshit out of the way straight from the start. Yes, we beat Man United. Yes, it was the second string. Yes, nobody apart from real Man United fans had heard of any of the team apart from Rossi. Yes, not one of the Premiership winning squad was even at the ground. But win we did nevertheless! This may of been the second string team, but lets face it, it was Manchester United's second string, and we are talking the most successful British team in recent history, so even the youth players are going to be the best in the country!

To say the United team sent to Vale Park was lacking any quality is rubbish. Five of the squad played in last seasons F.A. Youth Cup Final, which narrowly lost on penalties, and has in the past provided us with Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Gary Neville and Phil Neville, and Guiseppe Rossi scored 9 goals in 16 games in Serie A last season for Parma and is rated at £6 Million.

It was a bumper crowd on the night, with over 7000 turning up for a friendly, and nearly 1500 from Manchester. This still provided Bill Bratts coffers with more Vale fans in the ground than there was at any of last seasons Home Fixtures (Take not Bill people will turn up if it's cheaper).

Despite all that the game was a bit of a cracker for a pre-season match. Goals, flying tackles, delayed kick off and a new home shirt on display made for a great nights entertainment. More to the point Martin Foyles team showed in the first 17 minutes that they may even be a force to be reckoned with this season in League 1. In fact several performances on the night showed that their is much to admire about Vale newcomers, and hopefully a lot more to come.

Vale took the lead on 2 minutes. Danny Whitaker won a challenge in the middle of the park and picked out Luke Rodgers on the edge of the area. Skipping past a United defender, Rodgers returned the ball to Whitaker, who curled the ball past the stranded United keeper into the top corner.

Vale's new partnership of Sodje and Rodgers showed why Leon Constantines departure will become a distant bad memory sooner rather than later! United's defence struggled to cope with Sodje's size, and his perfectly judged low cross split the United defence for Luke Rodgers to fire home from eight yards with an unstoppable shot. These two must have Foyley drooling at the prospect of the upcoming season as they seem to have gelled together a partnership already. Sodje's size and power and Rodgers pace and quick thinking should trouble a few of the League One defences this season, and at 66/1 Rodgers has got to be a good bet for Top Scorer in the division this year.

Uniteds keeper Ron Zieler was at fault again for Vales third goal. A poor clearance sent the ball flying to Shane Tudor 30 yards out. The new Vale winger advanced to the edge of the area before claiming goal of the night by bending the ball with the outside of his foot into the bottom corner. 3-0 up within 17 minutes against any United team is a bit of a shock, leaving many Vale Fans thinking the new scoreboard was faulty! But no it was true, and this first 17 minutes showed why Vale should be happy with their pre season so far.

Vale were never going to have the game all their own way, and United quality began to show through, after the shock of going three down so quickly. Rossi was always going to be a threat on the night, and he had a couple of moments of brilliance before he managed to pull one back for United. He had twice latched on to through balls by Lee and Hewson and tested Joe Anyon in the Vale goal with the resulting efforts, but on 20 minutes he showed why he is rated at £6 million plus. He was one on one with Mark McGregor and being chased down by George Pilkington and Colin Miles, but he managed to skip past them all and dribble his way into the area, wrong footing Anyon and slotting the ball home from 12 yards out.

Rossi then created United second goal, on 30 minutes, when his instinctive through ball found Campbell who was played onside by new boy Justin Miller. Anyon rushed out to try and put the striker off, but his shot was delayed long enough to wrong foot Anyon and send him the wrong way, before slotting home from 16 yards out. Vale continued to pressure the young United side when Zieler made a fine stop from a fierce Luke Rodgers effort before Lea threw himself in front of Sodje's to prevent him from scoring from the rebound. Sodje and Rodger linked up well again on 40 minutes when Sodje turned sharply on United 18 yard line and slipped the ball through to Rodgers, whose effort just clipped the post. The second half was never going to be as eventful as the first, and Foyle gave run outs to three players currently on trial at Vale Park. The series of substitutions seemed to stop both teams from really creating any more clear chances but it was United that came closer in the second half, with efforts from Campbell and Eckersley being denied by Miles and McGregor respectively. The trialists did give Foyle something to think about, as he is looking to strengthen his forward line. Willcock looked impressive as he replaced Rodgers, with his ability to hold up the ball and win headers. Addagio had bags of pace and his effort on the United goal was only denied by a fine save from Zeiler. Evans came on again and impressed again with a couple of runs past United's defence and good balls into the box. One dark mark on the night was a rather rash challenge by Robin Hulbert on Richie Jones, resulting in the player being stretchered off four minutes from time.
After the match manager Foyle had the following to say " The crowd was magnificent tonight. I think the best we have had for a pre-season game was the 3,400 we had against Man City last year. We need the money and a big 'Thank You' to the fans who came and made it such a great atmosphere. Some pre-season games are pretty boring, but right from the start tonight there was plenty of entertainment value. "

Port Vale Line Up