ased on a mean of 5

Fitzsimons 7 So great to have a keeper to come out and claim difficult balls. Held nerve in the last minutes

Tootle 6.5 What a difference a year makes. Worked very hard

Duffy 6 a needless booking but kept his head. Some good blocks

Brisley 6.5 Solid as usual

Jones 6 Didnt get as forward so much but held position well

Yates 6 played astutely

Hewiit 5 too many wasteful passes despite his running to cover the midfield. Needless booking

Allesandra 5.5 a good first half but seemed to slow in the second

Grant 6 another match passes him by but when you need a few seconds of quality, he does provide it

Stead 6.5 took a battering but stood up well. Smashed the penalty well

Forte 5.5 wasted a great chance. Not one of his better performances

Subs

Saunders 5.5 still have doubts if he can physically cope with L2

 

Fitzsimons 6.5 – no real saves to make, but looked assured in his other work
Tootle 7 – defended well and offered a threat going forwards
Duffy 7 – coped well with the physical threat of Pope
Brisley 7 – again did the simple things well, caused problems in their box
Jones 7* - it was obvious from the kick off that the Vale fans remember his history with them, but he didn’t let it bother him and put in some excellent dead balls that deserved a better end product
Allessandra 7 – lively throughout, some good touches and creative play
Hewitt 6.5 – really good work defensively, a bit lacking in his forward play
Yates 6.5 – typical Yates, put himself about and stopped them playing
Grant 6 – not a lot came off for him, but he stuck at it and played the crucial ball for the penalty
Stead 6 – some good link up play without offering a lot of goal threat, held his nerve for the penalty
Forte 5.5 – only looked half the player he sometimes does when coming off the bench

Saunders 6.5 – to be honest, I was a bit disappointed to see Saunders come on because he hasn’t impressed me when I’ve seen him before (mainly pre-season) but he got involved and did well
Smith 6 – won a couple of headers in the short time he was on, which was what we needed

A tight game, and one of the reasons I love lower league football. It was never dull but looked like ending 0-0 until the incompetent ref decided to balance his earlier errors. I would have to see the replays to confirm, but the rugby tackle on Brisley first half looked a stonewall penalty, the body check on Grant was a decent shout, and the one on Stead looked the least convincing of the three, although their defender did seem to attack the player rather than the ball. I feared the worst going into the game, but a brilliant 3 points in just the sort of game we would have lost a year ago.

The Brisley foul was slightly to my left, but you could see that he was being pulled by the defender. Definite foul, but looked just outside the box from where it started. Other than that, I pretty much agree with @Elite_pie ratings, but would mark Duffy down one for his needless booking and throwing himself to the ground too easily at times. Forte still looked injured to me as well, as he didn't look capable of running at full speed.