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Next Game: Home Against Farsley Celtic On Saturday March 23rd Kick-Off 3.00pm

Friday, November 25, 2005

Another view of the Vale game

Below a short report on the LDV game last Tuesday from Simon and Glynis Wright, our friends from the Baggies.

Just when you'd thought sniggering at Port Vale was a bit below the belt, a bit like mocking the afflicted - oh, dear, I've just gone and done it again. This time, the cause for mirth was their Mickey Mouse Cup defeat at the hands of Hereford United this Tuesday evening just gone, the dual perpetrators of the damage being none other than former Albion combo Tam Mkandawire and Danny Carey-Bertram. A shame more weren't there to witness their feat, really; only less then 1,400 on the night, with around 150 Vale supporters bothering to make the trip from the Potteries. Nice of you to turn up, chaps.

What happened? Well, Vale were completely clueless right from the start, their goal coming under constant siege almost instantaneously. No surprise when Danny C-B drew first blood, very early on in the game, the strike had been coming, believe you me, but Hereford then sat back and let them come at them, the end result being a Vale equaliser with what turned out to be the last kick of the ball in the first half, almost. Same old story - one chance, one goal. I wonder why it is I'm getting a terrible case of deja-vu right now?

As these things generally do, the game then settled down into a war of attrition; both sides had their chances, sure, but in the main, they ended up nullifying each other. A bit like matter and anti-matter colliding, really. No surprise when it went to extra time, then, although my perception of events by that time was that Vale, growing ever stronger as the half progressed, would see off the Bulls over the long haul. But it never worked out like that; within minutes of the restart, The Bulls went ahead again, thanks to Tam's header through a ruck of players following a corner. Sure, the visitors did try and pick themselves up again, but by the second period of extra-time, it was abundantly clear that their doom was upon them, and their remaining resistance, feeble even by their standards, withered away completely. So into the hat for the next round go The Bulls, then. Amazing, isn't it? Most sides having a bit of a Cup run manage to see off at least some of their opponents cleanly - but not Hereford. Just like their similar run last season, when all their Mickey Mouse games went the extra mile, they had to do it the hard way. I can only hope they don't suffer for it this weekend, when high-flying Exeter are the visitors to Edgar Street.