Conclusions from Swindon thriller

A look at Port Vale after the 3-3 draw at Swindon

Lorent Tolaj celebrates his late equaliser in the 3-3 draw at Swindon. Pic by Gerard Austin

Hello and welcome to our Sunday edition of The Valiant for February 9.

Vale’s first visit to Swindon since their memorable play-off double header lived up to recent history with a thrilling 3-3 draw .

Lorent Tolaj’s 87^th-minute strike, his second goal of the game, rescued a point for Darren Moore’s side from a contest they would have been furious to lose.

Vale started well but found themselves behind on 20 minutes when Nnamdi Ofoborh went down over Nathan Smith’s challenge and Will Wright waited for Ben Amos to commit himself before rolling the penalty into the opposite corner.

Jayden Stockley slid the ball through for Jaheim Headley to level on 31 and Vale were well worth the lead delivered nine minutes later when Ben Garrity and Ryan Croasdale combined to set up Tolaj for a close-range header.

The game swung back to Swindon when Headley was caught in possession by Aaron Drinan before former Valiant Danny Butterworth levelled on 45 minutes - and Vale were in trouble on 63 minutes when Joel Cotterill made it 3-2 with a superb long range strike.

However, Tolaj was the most alert player in the area to fire into the roof of the net and earn a point after George Byers’ long-range strike was blocked.

The goal denied 14^th-placed Swindon a fifth successive win and means Vale remain sixth, still unbeaten in 2025.

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