Port Vale overturned nearly a century of history, winning at Derby County 2-1 thanks to goals from Ellis Harrison and James Wilson. The Hosts had taken an early lead but goal hero James Collins soon became the villain of the piece, seeing Red after a skirmish with Nathan Smith in the Port Vale area.
The Rams took the lead as early as the 5th minute, Nathaniel Mendez-Laind starting a counter attack, releasing Tom Barkhuizen down the left. The winger breezed past Brad Walker and Nathan Smith, before squaring the ball across the penalty box to striker Collins who struck a fierce half volley into the bottom right hand corner giving Jack Stevens no chance in the Vale goal.
Vale should have hit back on 14 minutes, Gavin Massey providing a corner from the right into the near post, Dan Jones reacting the quickest to a mistimed clearance, going down under a challenge. The referee was quick to wave away penalty appeals but changed his mind after speaking to the assistant referee. Vale Captain Tom Conlon stepped up to take the first Vale penalty for over 70 matches sending Joe Wildsmith the wrong way only to see his effort go the wrong side of the right hand upright.
Having weathered quite the storm for the remainder of the first half, Vale did get back into the game and not for the first time during the afternoon, referee Sam Allison was the centre of attention. On 53 minutes Gavin Massey sent over a corner towards the penalty spot, a melee of players jostling for position until Derby’s Richard Stearman inexplicably raised a hand, palming the ball away for a clear penalty. This time it was striker Harrison who stepped up to take the penalty, powering the ball past Wildsmith to draw Vale level.
The game took a wild swing toward Vale on 58 minutes as Derby were reduced to 10 men. Jason Knight supplied a cross from the Derby right, Smith and Collins tussling under the ball with referee Allison awarding the Vale centre back a free kick, but as both players fell to the ground, a flailing arm from Collins, caught Smith across the face leading to Allison brandishing a red card for violent conduct.
Vale took the lead on 66 minutes, Conlon robbing Knight in the midfield, freeing Harrison to run at the Derby defense, breaking a tackle before cutting inside and teeing up Wilson to strike an effort on goal, the striker notching up his first of an injury plagued season.
Despite the man disadvantage, Derby continued to press forward but always looked vulnerable to the counter attack, Mipo Odubeko with the best chance for the visitors as the game drew to a close.
