The Wonder Of P.V.F.C.: Port Vale Vs Southend United Saturday 29th September 2007

A new dawn is about to begin at Vale Park. The departed Martin Foyle has left the club looking for a new manager to steer them away from relegation worries, and make a swift rise up the league. Rumours are abound at the next man to take the helm, apparently Adrian Heath and Brian Little were both at the match, and Paul Ince and Ian Brightwell are both rumoured to be the only two applications the board has received on paper, although over twenty phone applications have supposed to of been taken. But for now the responsibility fall's on Foyle's assistant manager, Dean Glover, to take the reins for the next couple of games at least, and to maybe throw his name into the mixing pot if results go his way.

Vale were forced into two changes before the game. In came Lowe for the suspended Westwood, and Jason Talbot was brought back in at left back, with Edwards switching to his preferred left wing role. Southend would of started the game as heavy favourites, and Vale were on the backfoot from the off as the visitors hoped the weeks upset would of affected the players. Southend are a much more physical side than Vale would of wanted to of played today, but it was Vale who grew in confidence as the half progressed, and could of scored four goals in the first half hour, but when your at the bottom luck seems to desert you as well.

Vale had the first shot in anger, when a McGoldrick free kick, won after Luke Rodgers was bundled over 25 yards out, whistled just wide of the post. Vale again pressed the visitors when Whitaker won the ball from a corner and attempted to chip the defence. Harsley latched onto the ball and fired his effort into the arms of the keeper. Southend were pressured again as Whitaker broke clear and volleyed at the goal, but his effort was smothered away by the keeper.

As the half wore on Southend were under more pressure from the Vale and it was Rodgers who was again the main threat for the home side. McGregor crossed the ball to Rodgers on 25 minutes, but his effort was fired into the side netting. But as Vale seemed to be on top of the game they fell behind to a poor refereeing decision which led to the visitors taking the lead. Gower broke free from half way when a ball was played over the top. He clearly brought the ball down with his hand, but it was missed by both linesman and referee, and he was allowed to run on. As the Vale midfield and back line desperately appealed for handball, he played the ball into the path of on loan Leon Clarke, who blasted home from 20 yards past the helpless Anyon. The confidence Vale had built up seemed to instantly drain away, and Southend started to create chance after chance. And the referee seemed to be very lenient towards the visitors, as every tackle from the Vale seemed to lead to a free kick for them, while they seemed to be able to tackle the Vale at will with no repercussions from the officials.

As the half drew to a close Harlsey was clattered into with a nasty challenge by former Vale player Peter Clarke. The resulting melee left Harlsey flat out on the floor, with most of the players involved in a scuffle. The ref waded in and broke it all up, then went to the linesman to see what had gone on. As he walked back, several Vale players argued as the referee looked like he was going to let the foul go with no action taken. As he waved for play to continue, Rocastle continued to make his feelings known, and he was shown a yellow card. This summed up Vales luck in the first half, and from the resulting move from Southend they got their second goal in injury time. Gower broke down the right and played the ball into the area where McCormack slotted home from 10 yards out. Although they had been much the better side, Vale had a mountain to climb in the second half.

Half Time Score Port Vale 0 - 2 Southend United

Vale came out of the blocks from the off at the start of the second half and should of scored on 48 minutes. Rodgers ran free of the defence and fired a fierce shot which the keeper could only parry away. Edwards got hold of the ball but his shot was blocked by the keeper. McGregor got forward from the back and his 20 yard shot went just over the crossbar. McGoldrick and Rodgers were looking lively up front, and McGoldricks through ball to Rodgers had the Southend defence rushing back to block the little strikers effort on goal. Harsley then pulled clear on 55 minutes to play in Edwards, but his stinging shot was pushed wide by the keeper. Vale had a penalty claim turned away by the referee on 57 minute when McGoldricks shot appeared to hit a defender on the arm, but the claim was waved away by the ref.

They had better luck a minute later as Rodgers cut into the area and was felled by a crunching tackle. The little man got up to take the spot kick. Despite the Southend players attempts to put him off with delay tactics, he slotted the ball home confidently to score his fourth of the season.

Rodgers had the ball in the net again a minute later when he latched on the an over the top ball from Edwards. He raced on and blasted the ball past the stranded keeper, but he was given offside and the 'goal' was disallowed. The goal seemed to give Vale a boost of confidence, and Glover brought on Tudor for Whitaker to try and stretch the visitors down the right. As it seemed the Vale's McGoldrick had nothing left in the tank after a spirited performance today, he was replaced by Richards on 68 minutes. But the changes seemed to back fire on Vale as their attack's ran out of steam and Southend yet again began to dominate with some feisty challenges.

Tudor had not done much since he came on, but he had a golden chance on 75 minutes. He broke clear of his marker and raced into the area, but his shot went wide. Glover made his final change, bringing on Willock for Edwards, who had impressed today on the wing getting in some good crosses for Rodgers.

Vale threw men forward with four minutes of injury time being played, but the Southend defense stood firm and they held on to win the match. It was an improved performance by the team today for Glovers first game in charge. But the lack of confidence at the back was all to clear, and out inability to keep a clean sheet looks likely to be a very difficult problem to solve. We looked a much better side than in the last home game, and even though we lost, we can take some positives out of the game. Southend were no better than Vale, and just took their chances better than we did. We need to stop conceding silly goals, and maybe even try scoring first, instead of falling behind. It of course doesn't help when the referee's we seem to get all appear to of had lifts of the opposition's team bus, as our players seemed unable to ever get the rub of the green. Certainly we got more positives than negatives out of the match today.

Final Score Port Vale 1 - 2 Southend United

Port Vale Line Up