January
Proved to be a tough month for Vale as they battled with their fixture build up and saw their progress halted with further postponed games.
The squad showed they were no pushovers and their rise up the League Two table was no fluke when they travelled to then league leaders Rochdale and held them to a 0-0 draw at Spotland.
While the end of the month saw Vale Park turned into winter wonderland thanks to the snowy weather. It will also be remembered for Vale's win over Hereford, where defender Lee Collins proved to be the perfect assister when his mazy run from 40 yards allowed Marc Richards to fire home and give Vale the win.
February
Vale fans travelled to Burton for the first time in recent seasons. They turned out in numbers once again, the pressure must have got to the players as Vale came away empty handed.
The Valiants win at Torquay saw Marc Richards and Lewis Haldane all loved up sharing a kiss as both of them found themselves on the score sheet.
However, the most impressive performance came at home to Lincoln, only the hardy saw Vale's resounding 4-0 win, with one of the lowest gates of the season.
March
Just 100 fans watched Vale's win over Darlington on a Tuesday evening, a re-arranged fixture from the new year.
Port Vale goalkeeper Joe Anyon was the subject of fans disgruntled opinions following his performance between the sticks at home to Northampton. Five minutes of madness and two mistakes from the 23 year old saw Vale lose valuable points on home soil and left fans questioning Adams' decisions and demanding a re-call for the dropped Chris Martin.
Vale more than made up for it a week later when they smashed five goals past fellow promotion chasers Chesterfield. The game saw striker Marc Richards bag his first hat trick in Vale colours.
Vale lost the bragging rights at the end of March when they faced Crewe on home territory. A contentious penalty decision saw Vale's rivals go home as 1-0 winners. It left Crewe boss Dario Gradi looming foolish. He spent days going over the DVD footage of the incident and the following game saw Crewe squander a 3-1 win to end up losing 4-3. While the referee issued an apology to Micky Adams over the spot kick.
April
As Vale stepped into the final run in of their campaign they were well placed for a timely push into the play offs, even if they didn't make it, they could have a major say on who finished with glory and who missed out.
They started with a win at Rotherham and a bank holiday fixture at home to Dagenham and Redbridge, all sides in and amongst the play offs. A win over Aldershot a few days later meant they were keeping up with the leading pack.
Fans were out in force for the two short trips to the North West. A 2-1 win over Accrington left them in pole position for a weekend fixture at Bury.
Nearly 3,000 Vale fans made the trip to the Lancashire town, spurred on by renewed optimism. Vale fans took over the home end at Gigg Lane due to the sheer volume. While on the field the kit clash mean that Vale were left to play in their training kit, similar to when you had to do PE in your vest and pants at school.
Vale looked to be on course for the play-offs come full time, but a late equaliser from Bury defender Efe Sodje left Vale still in touching distance.
Vale upset Notts County's promotion party when they turned up at Vale Park and also prompted a pitch invasion from a hanful of the vale faithful. It fired Adams'side into the play offs, taking up 7th spot.
May
The play-off dream only lasted seven days ast Vale travelled to the seaside to take on an already promoted side in the form of Bournemouth, in the last away trip of the season.
A sell out crowd of 1,500 made the the long trip from Burslem. Once again they weren't rewarded for their efforts as a second half hammering saw Vale head home on the receiving end of a 4-0 defeat, their heaviest loss of the season.
So it was all down to the last game of the season. Vale needed a win and would be waiting on other results to decide their fate. An early Shrewsbury goal looked to have put out the fire in Vale bellies, until a Marc Richards popped up with a second half penalty to end the game in stalemate.
Without the three points Vale had just fallen short and with other results not in their favour Vale had missed out but had a season to be proud of.
Vale boss Micky Adams summed it up by saying: "We fell short and it's disappointing. I believed in myself and I believed in my players."
Adams admitted that he had a tough job on his hands when he first entered the dressing room that was low on confidence and that could have been the deciding factor in Vale's season. He added: "Itf I'd had a little bit more confidence in them we may have got further than we have."
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment