The Wonder Of P.V.F.C.: Port Vale Vs Hartlepool United 25th August 2007

The drawing board put up by Martin Foyle needs a damn good clean today after this drab performance by Vale in their second consecutive defeat of the season. The sunshine that covered Vale Park this afternoon was the only bright spark in today's fixture as Hartlepool took advantage of some poor play by Vale to gain their third win in a row, and give Foyle food for thought after his 'drastic changes need to be made' speech after the Yeovil and Wrexham defeats. It seems the changes may have o be more drastic than he first thought, as this defeat heaped pressure on the manager with sections of the crowd already calling for his resignation after only three games.

Foyle dropped Vales only goalscorer Luke Rodgers?, the best midfielder Danny Whitaker?, and center half Keith Lowe(one out of three isn't bad), and brought in Marc Richards, Paul Harsley and Colin Miles (big improvement then!) to try and get what should of been three points at home, but the changes brought the exact opposite, with Vale being outplayed from the off, and being lucky to keep it at 2 - 0.

It was a perfect start for Hartlepool as they went in front from their first move of the match. Brown ran through Vale's midfield unchallenged and laid the ball into the path of Matt Robson who rolled the ball past the stranded Anyon to make it 1 - 0 after six minutes. After making all the changes to the team Vale looked all at sea for the first goal and it just exploited the embarrassingly poor marking. Vale did create some half chances, with Harlsey going close on 13 minutes and Miles had a good header pushed wide from a good Edwards corner. transfer target Sodje looked jaded, and this may of hampered his shooting boots as his chances looked never likely to trouble the Hartlepool keeper. Vale's inability to score seemed to give Hartlepool the boost they needed, and Humphreys and Robson created chance after chance for Hartlepools front line duo, with only a string of good saves from Anyon keeping the score down to the single goal.

Half Time Port Vale 0 - 1 Hartlepool United

The boo's that Vale walked off too at the end of the half seemed to give them a slight lift, as they came out for the second half with more purpose than in the first. Tudor got past with a blistering run just after the break only to have his cross well cleared by Nelson. Tudor again created a good chance taking on the Hartlepool left back and whipping in a cross, only for the ball to be knocked away from danger by the Hartlepool defense. Just on the hour mark Harsley had Vale's best chance as his low shot went through a crowded box only o hit the post and go wide. Richards reacted well to the loose ball and with the goal beckoning and the keeper stranded, Antwi arrived to knock the shot out for a corner.

As the pressure from Vale started to subside in the heat, Foyle made the double change and brought on Rodgers and Whitaker to try and keep up the challenge to score after 66 minutes. Instead of lifting the team this seemed to dry up Vale's chances, and give Hartlepool the incentive to push on the tired looking Vale team. Both Brown and sub Foley went close for the visitors. Vale did push on to try and equalise, but the poor defensive work let in Hartlepool with three minutes left on the clock to score a second and kill the game off. Brown ran again unchallenged past the Vale midfield and back line to fire past Anyon to make it 2 - 0 and leave Foyle with egg on his face, and Vale with only 1 point so far this season.

Final Score Port Vale 0 - 2 Hartlepool United

This result leaves Vale with no win so far this season, and with three tough games to come, things are unlikely to improve. Transfer targets Anyon and Sodje will be a huge blow if they leave the club, and the play-offs will be about as far away as they could ever be if we lose our best players. Foyle has got to stop messing with line up changes that don't work, and negative tactics at home, to give us any real chance of progression with this squad. Too many of his summer signings are way below the standard of the players we let go, and if this continues then being a nice guy won't cut it with the fans, who pay good money (It costs more for a season ticket to watch the Vale in League One than Derby, Birmingham, Wigan and Sunderland in the Premier League!) to see sub standard performances like this, against teams we should be beating. It is only three games into the season, bit we have missed out on a money making League Cup tie against Aston Villa after the cup exit and we don't look like scoring again this season if the players are going to be as edgy as this for the rest of the year. Half-fit players like Marc Richards should not be being picked above fully fit players like Luke Rodgers, especially when they miss open goals from six yards out! A lot has to improve at this club or the relegation favourite's tag may become a reality.

Port Vale Line Up