What
is it with home games against Port Vale, eh? From half-way
line strikes to conceding an equalizer in the 92nd minute to
scoring the winner
in the 93rd minute, when Oxford United and Port Vale meet at the
Kassam Stadium, the neutral is rarely left unsatisfied.
Oxford
went into the game today with seven points from a possible nine, with
the two wins being away from home to Plymouth and top-of-the-tableGillingham. The recent upturn in form has somewhat altered the
complexion of Oxford’s season. The club have been struggling in
mid-table for the majority of the season, but today’s hard-earned
three points has put Oxford in a position to surge towards a play-off
place by the end of the season.
Alfie
Potter got the scoring underway as he latched on to former U’s
centre back Darren Purse’s poor backpass before opening up his body
and slotting the ball coolly past Chris Neal into the far corner to
make it two in two against the top two for Alfie. An excellent finish
that set the tone for the remainder of the game. Despite being a
superb game of football, there were countless mistakes made by both
sides.
It took
Port Vale just a minute to react with a Doug Loft effort from 20
yards going just wide of Oxford goalkeeper Luke McCormick’s
right-hand post. But, five minutes later Loft had re-calibrated his
right foot sufficiently to guide Tom Pope’s knock-down just inside
that right-hand post from 25 yards for 1-1.
Vale
almost took the lead in spectacular fashion as Calvin Andrew
attempted an overhead kick from the penalty spot. Unfortunately for
Vale fans, he is Calvin Andrew and it rolled out harmlessly for a
goal kick.
Oxford
themselves could have taken the lead just before half time but Sean
Rigg could not direct Liam Davis’ cross on target.
As the
half time whistle went, United walked off to a ripple of applause and
then a chorus of boos as the matchday officials came into view. The
U’s supporters clearly upset with the referee’s decision not to
award a penalty for what looked a blatant push on Alfie Potter.
The
Yellows came out pumped for the second half and appeared to have been
suitably motivated by the coaching staff during the break. Deane
Smalley continued his tireless work rate up front, Damian Batt
carried on providing an option of an overlap on the right and Josh
Parker even won a header. Oxford were pushing for a goal with a
barrage of corners, free-kicks and throw-ins from the feet (and
hands) of stand-in central midfielder Tony Capaldi. In fact, the Vale
left back was doing his level best to push Josh Parker with a barrage
of shirt pulls, head-locks and even a UFC move that ended in the pair
of them going into the referee's book.
Port
Vale probed and Ryan Burge saw his effort tipped onto the crossbar
after Jake Wright over-played, but it was Oxford that got the winner.
James Constable accelerated down the right and provided a cross that
Vale’s top goal-scorer Tom Pope almost turned into his own net.
From the resulting corner, the ball wasn’t cleared properly by the
Vale defence and the ball fell fortunately to Deane Smalley who
slammed the ball between the keeper’s legs for his fourth goal of
the season and what turned out to be the winner.
Oxford
pressed to make the game safe and Liam Davis burst into the box after
clever play from Sean Rigg only to be tripped by Ryan Burge. This
time the referee pointed to the spot and Oxford had the chance to
make the game safe. Sean Rigg took responsibility in the absence of
first-choice penalty taker Peter Leven. He smashed the ball hard and
low to Chris Neal’s right, but the Vale stopper anticipated and
saved well. It wasn’t necessarily a bad penalty, it was just a
saved one.
Fortunately,
the penalty miss was not to prove costly as United hung on to record
their first win at home since Cheltenham Town on New Years Day.
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