| Viewpoint: Port Vale - 25/10/2022 Written by scants_itfc_88 on Wednesday, 26th Oct 2022 09:58 Three more points and a growing gap to seventh! The outcome of the game was certainly more enjoyable than the watch. I am sure the neutrals enjoyed a close fought battle with typical League One scraps, errors and moments of real quality. For the Blue Army it was a bit too nail-biting for my liking. Port Vale set up to make our night difficult and for the most part it worked. There were large periods of the game where they were probably the better team and they might feel a little hard done by not to get a point. Town, missing some key players in the middle, struggled to get their passing game together for long spells and defensively they were outfought on more occasions than expected. However, we know that Kieran McKenna’s Town do not roll over as they did under previous managers and despite it being a close game, it was ultimately a gap in quality at the top end which saw us to the three points. The game started with Vale pressing high, winning the ball back and preventing our passing play. I haven’t compared the stats but this game must have been up there with our lowest pass completion rate of the season. Time and time again they were overhit or passed straight to a white shirt. The Janoi Donacien, Wes Burns partnership struggled to get going down the right. The bobbly pitch certainly didn’t help. For a time it looked like it might not be our night but then a moment of magic sparked in the middle. Dominic Ball, in for the suspended Sam Morsy, turned the Vale midfield and found Kyle Edward in space. He turned out wide and found Leif Davis who drove across the box. I said before that game that so fancied this to be Freddie Ladapo’s night. He slid in at the far post but Town in front. The game seemed to turn for the next few minutes, as Town seemingly found a way to exert their dominance, something that we have seen so often this season. Forcing a corner, Davis whipped in again. This time the ball rebounded out of the box to the debutant Cameron Humphreys. What a finish. With the calmness of an experienced professional, he controlled the half volley through the bodies in the area and left the keeper rooted the spot. At 2-0, Town really should have pressed on and got themselves a hatful of goals. There’s no doubt about it, Town have been excellent for the majority of the season, but the one criticism in recent weeks has been the standard of goals we have conceded. Right back to Sheffield Wednesday, the goals we have conceded have all been errors of our own making. Port Vale’s first, just before half-time, was not only a bad time to concede, but the manner of it must have infuriated McKenna. Six Ipswich players missed the chance to win a header or tackle before the finish came in. Not one of them did their job well enough. The positive about conceding that close to the break is it should stop momentum from turning and give Town the opportunity to recompose themselves. That didn’t happen either. Within a minute of the second half kicking off, Town’s passing play once again found them wanting. Luke Woolfenden messed about with the ball outside our box, rather than clearing down field and Vale nicked the ball to win a corner. From there it was 2-2 in a matter of four in play minutes. Town struggled to deal with crosses into the box all night and Ellis Harrison should really have given them an early lead as well. I am sure this week’s training will involve a lot of defending balls into the box. Those mistakes need to be cut out, we dropped three at Lincoln because we couldn’t overturn an error, despite enough chances to do so. We will lose more if we keep letting mistakes creep in. Thankfully, Town still had a masterful stroke in their attacking play. Davis and Humphreys involved once again, the ball out wide was neatly rolled into the young midfielder who drove across the box. The deflection off the defender rolled neatly to Ladapo who stroked in his second of the game. Despite a bit of late pressure, Town did enough to see out the game and keep up the chase in Plymouth, who yet again found a way to win. It was great to see Ladapo bag a brace. For me he needs to keep playing and the goals will come. He works tirelessly for the team and just needs a run to find some consistency. Humphreys' debut will also be one to remember. I thought he started slow and looked a little out of his comfort zone with the strong-battling Vale midfield, however once he scored he looked a different player. It was exciting to see. Whilst he did have a great debut and Dom Ball had some good moments, I think it was clear how important Morsy and Lee Evans are. Port Vale arguably edged the midfield battle and we didn’t see that turn and drive that we do usually. Morsy will be back in on Saturday, it will be interesting to see who McKenna chooses to play alongside him. Ball is the likely pick with some experience needed against one of the stronger sides, but Humphreys could be rewarded for his performance and is probably the more natural direct replacement for Evans. Could we see Panutche Camara be given his first league minutes of the season? Ultimately it was a game where we could have easily slipped up and caved to a battling opponent and poor pitch, but we didn’t. We came through unscathed and whilst there are plenty of negatives as well as positives, Charlton will offer a different kind of challenge. It is one I am sure McKenna will have us ready for. We continue to grow and create an ever-growing gap to those below us. Of course the aim has to be automatic promotion, but the gap to seventh is also massive. I already can’t see us dropping a whole 14 points to those teams outside the play-off places, so our fallback is almost all but guaranteed, is it not? Uppa Town Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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