The Valiants extended MK Dons winless run to six as Nottingham Forest Loanee Aaron Donnelly scored his first ‘senior’ level goal in the first half and wrapped up the three points for Port Vale. The win moved Vale up to thirteenth in the table but left the visitors in twenty-second and in serious threat of relegation with only eleven games remaining this season.
Vale started the brighter of the two sides forcing a corner as early as the fifth minute, which yielded a further free kick from the left hand side of the box. Mal Benning took it left footed, a poor clearance finding Worrall beyond the penalty area on the right. The Winger drifted the ball towards the back post, Ellis Harrison getting his head on it but it floated over the bar and it remained 0-0.
A series of quid pro quo fouls between Ellis Harrison and Zak Jules left both players cautioned in a matter of minutes but more importantly with Jules fresh from his caution, Vale were gifted an attacking free kick on twenty-two minutes. Situated in the inside left channel, twenty-five yards from the byline, Benning again supplied the cross in the direction of Ben Garrity, who under pressure from his marker, only served to flight the ball high into the Burslem sky, before Smith won a good header to keep the ball in the heart of the Don’s box. A poor defensive header by Daniel Harvie only traveled to the edge of his own eighteen yard box where it was met with a right foot volley from Worrall which instead of arrowing in on goal flashed across the defense, finding the unmarked Donnelly, who stroked the ball first time into the bottom right hand corner past the hapless Jamie Cumming in the MK Don’s goal.
On forty minutes might have increased their lead, winning a free kick on the edge of the Dons box, just right of centre, around twenty-five yards out. Matty Taylor took the set piece but the ball was always high and despite dipping cleared Cumming’s bar with ease.
Vale carried their attacking threat into the second half and on sixty minutes nearly doubled their lead. Good work from Taylor in the middle of the park freed up Worrall who galloped down the right before squaring a cross into the edge of the box, taking a slight deflection, but the ball dropped to Harrison who hit a crisp effort goalward, Cumming doing brilliantly diving to his left to palm the ball onto the post before the Don’s defense scrambled the ball away.
As the half progressed, the Don’s slowly gained a toe hold in the game on seventy minutes could consider themselves unfortunate not to be given a boast as Ojo was lucky to avoid a second yellow and an early bath. The resulting free kick to MK Dons was central, around 30 yards out but deflected off the wall for a corner. The corner was hung up to the back post, Aiden Stone not getting anywhere near it leaving a free header to Jules, but the defender could only put his header over the bar.
Shaken into action by the MK Don’s chance Vale hit back and on eighty minutes Wilson won a clever corner down the Vale left. Benning took it left footed, drifting all the way to the back of the penalty area before dropping to Worrall who hit a fine first time effort but again Cumming was alive to the danger, this time diving to his right to keep the Don’s in it.
Despite sustained pressure from the visitors in the six added minutes, Vale comfortably held firm and took the three points and will go into next Saturday hopeful of further denting Fleetwood Town’s recent good form, the Cod’s losing 1-0 at Cheltenham this afternoon.
Attendance 6,696 (340 Visitors)
