Vale foiled in dramatic draw

An in-depth look at Port Vale on and off the pitch after the goalless draw at Bromley

Jayden Stockley’s header was ruled not to have crossed the line. Pic by Tom Green

Hello and welcome to our Sunday morning edition of The Valiant for December 15.

Vale were left to reflect on a ‘goal’ that wasn’t given in a much-improved second-half performance as they had to settle for a stalemate at Bromley.

As you can see from Tom Green’s picture, Jayden Stockley’s header five minutes from time looks over the line but the assistant referee kept his flag down and Vale could only rue what might have been.

A goal at that point would have been reward for a second-half transformation after they were completely outplayed before the break. They were grateful in that opening period to Connor Ripley for two excellent saves to deny Michael Cheek while Bromley also went close when 11-goal top scorer Cheek and Danny Imray both fired narrowly wide.

Half-time substitute Rico Richards helped make Vale much more of an attacking threat and, although the hosts went close again through Cameron Congreve, Imray and Cheek again, Antwoine Hackford forced a smart save from Grant Smith and Stockley hit the inside of the post before he was controversially denied by the over-the-line incident.

Vale remain second in the League Two table but now four points adrift of Walsall after their 1-0 win at home to Barrow.

If you are interested in subscribing, we offer a minimum of 150 editions over 12 months from the day you sign up. That’s less than 27p an edition for that £40 fee. There’s also a monthly option and a free trial available. Or, if you’d like to see more about what we do, our 200th edition was free and is available here.

If you are already a subscriber then thanks for your support and please read on for edition number 215.