Argyle beat Port Vale in an entertaining Sky Bet League One clash at Vale Park.
Lorent Tolaj’s goal on his return to Vale, early in the second half, was the difference between the two sides on the day, ensuring the Greens took all three points back to Devon with them.
Tom Cleverley opted to make two changes to the side that lost at Huddersfield Town a fortnight previous.
Bali Mumba came into the team for Owen Oseni, operating in an attacking role, in support of Tolaj.
Alex Mitchell made his first start since the Devon Derby, coming into the defence as the injured Bradley Ibrahim dropped out of the squad.
Conor Hazard was in goal, with a back four ahead of him, comprising Kornel Szucs on the right, Brendan Galloway on the left, and Mitchell partnering Mathias Ross in the centre.
Malachi Boateng and Law McCabe played at the base of midfield, Matty Sorinola held the width on the right, with Owen Dale his counterpart on the left; and Tolaj led the line on his return to Vale Park following his transfer to Argyle in the summer, with Mumba in support.
There were places on the bench for Joe Edwards and Ayman Benarous, who were returning from injury layoffs; Joe Ralls also featured in a matchday squad for the first time since he signed for the Greens at the beginning of November.
Other than Ruari Paton’s sighter within the opening few minutes, there was not too much action at the beginning of the game, both sides perhaps not wanting to give much away early on.
Neither side were able to break down the other; whilst there were some strong passages of play in the defensive and midfield thirds, it was lacking in the attacking third.
When it began to click for Port Vale, they looked dangerous. Ross did just enough to unnerve Devante Cole, who looked destined to tap in Jaheim Headley’s curled cross inside the six-yard box.
The Greens’ biggest area of threat looked to be the flanks, with Sorinola and Dale looking lively and threatened the Vale defence with crosses on occasion.
Mitchell had an excellent moment of intervention in the minutes leading up to half-time. Ben Garrity profited from an error in possession from the Pilgrims’ backline and advanced down the right. Vale’s skipper looked up and attempted to pick out the advancing forward Paton, and had it not been cut out by Mitchell’s sliding challenge, it would likely have resulted in the game’s first goal.
At half-time, the game remained goalless, both managers would probably have been content with what they had seen so far, but hoped that their team would find some more moments of quality in the second-period.
It would only take 18 seconds for that wish to come true, Tolaj finding the back of the net with his first real opportunity of the game.
Huge credit must go to Sorinola, who jinked away from Headley on the right wing and picked out Argyle’s number nine inside a congested penalty area.
Tolaj found space between Connor Hall and Ben Heneghan inside the penalty area, and side-footed the ball powerfully beyond the helpless Vale ‘keeper Joe Gauci, giving the Greens an early second-half lead.
In response, Rhys Walters tried his luck from the edge of the box, skipping away from a defender and testing Hazard in the Argyle goal.
The early goal sparked a reaction from both sides, Argyle sensing the opportunity to strike again while the hosts’ spirits were dampened, and Vale in desperate search of some attacking threat to provide themselves a lift.
After a slight lull midway through the second-half, Hazard was forced into decisive action by Paton.
Cole’s botched header inside the box arrived at the feet of his fellow forward Paton. The Irishman took the shot on, forcing Hazard to get down low and palm away the effort.
Moments later, Argyle went up the other end and created a goalscoring opportunity of their own, Sorinola keeping Gauci honest with a driven effort from an angle.
With the game very open, Tom Cleverley turned to his bench, perhaps in an attempt to slow things down and introduce some fresh legs.
Ralls made his Argyle debut, taking the place of Dale, adding another body to the midfield. Benarous came on for Galloway, the former featuring for the Greens for the first time in nearly two months. Not too long after, skipper Edwards came on for Sorinola, who had given absolutely everything down the right.
These changes also saw a change in formation, with a 541 preferred by Cleverley. Edwards, Szucs, Mitchell, Ross, and Benarous made up the back five, with Boateng, Ralls, McCabe, and Mumba across the midfield, goalscorer Tolaj remained up-front.
As the home side, Vale pushed on in search of a leveller, but Argyle had a response to everything the hosts threw at them.
The only dampener on the Green’s second-half performance was the injury to substitute Benarous, who was withdrawn just 20 minutes after his introduction, with Jamie Paterson the replacement.
Cole had a good chance in stoppage time from a dangerous Ronan Curtis corner. He leapt well and headed down into the ground and fortunately for Argyle, his header bounced back up and safely over the crossbar.
The late aerial bombardment continued and a chance to volley fell to Paton. He lashed the ball straight at Hazard, but the Pilgrims’ goalkeeper did not blink and gathered well.
It was immense relief when referee Abigail Byrne blew her whistle to indicate the end of play, many in green collapsing to their knees in joy before going over to celebrate with the nearly 900-strong away contingent, led by goalscorer Tolaj.
Cleverley’s side secured their first league win since Burton in late September and will now be looking to take this momentum into their upcoming home fixture against Northampton Town.
Port Vale: 45 Joe Gauci, 3 Jaheim Headley (11 Ronan Curtis, 69), 4 Ben Heneghan (9 Jayden Stockley, 59), 5 Connor Hall (10 Dajaune Brown, 90+2), 8 Ben Garrity (capt), 12 Rhys Walters (14 Funso Ojo, 69), 17 Ruari Paton, 24 Kyle John, 25 Cameron Humphreys, 32 George Hall, 44 Devante Cole. Substitutes: 13 Ben Amos (gk), 18 Ryan Croasdale, 22 Jesse Debrah.
Booked: John 74
Argyle: 1 Conor Hazard (capt), 2 Mathias Ross, 6 Kornel Szucs, 9 Lorent Tolaj, 11 Bali Mumba, 15 Alex Mitchell, 19 Malachi Boateng, 20 Law McCabe, 22 Brendan Galloway (14 Ayman Benarous, 69 (7 Jamie Paterson, 89)), 29 Matty Sorinola (8 Joe Edwards, 79), 35 Owen Dale (32 Joe Ralls, 69). Substitutes: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond (gk), 4 Brendan Wiredu, 18 Owen Oseni.
Goals: Tolaj 46
Booked: McCabe 65, Tolaj 80, Edwards 90+8
Referee: Abigail Byrne
Attendance: 7,358 (888 away)
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