Wrexham Youth 2
Port Vale Youth 0
Football League Youth Alliance (North West Conference)

Match Report

Goals from central defenders Chris Marriott and Lee Jones saw the Dragons continue to set the pace at the top of the table with a workmanlike 2-0 victory over Port Vale at Colliers Park. Four wins and a draw from the opening five games is a fantastic start for Steve Cooper’s side but, as in the previous outing against Walsall a fortnight earlier, this was one of those games when victory was earned despite the performance not reaching the levels the players know they’re capable of.

“We felt well prepared, as we’d had two weeks in which to work on things in training,” revealed Steve. “Port Vale are renowned for having a strong, aggressive side – but we’d prepared for the game well. Defensively, we kept our shape well in the first half, even though overall we didn’t play particularly well.”

They played well enough to take a 10th minute lead though, as the Vale keeper fumbled Matty Hurdman’s corner and Marriott pounced to score from close range. “We didn’t start that great,” Steve added. “But it was really pleasing to get the goal. To be fair, they had one or two chances. Chris Maxwell made a couple of good saves, but ones you’d expect him to make.”

Midway through the first half the Dragons came close to doubling their advantage when Tom Matischok’s pass found Mark Stewart and the striker’s angled shot had the keeper beaten but struck the near post. The rest of the opening period was rather a scrappy affair in terms of football with both sides guilty of squandering possession too easily but half time arrived with the Dragons happily holding onto the one-goal lead.

Joey Jones’ words during the interval obviously had the desired effect as the second half brought a much better performance. George Stewart went on one of his already characteristic runs, beating half the Vale side as he advanced from his own penalty area to the visitors’ area, but he was forced onto his left foot and his shot was saved. Had he been able to shoot with his favourite right foot then who knows?

The introduction of Mark Head into the attack livened things up still further, and his clever positioning and running caused the visitors continual problems. He probably should have added to Wrexham’s lead with a shot that forced a save from the Vale keeper but he was instrumental in the move that led to the game-clinching second goal on 75 minutes. His adventurous work down the left won a corner, which was whipped in dangerously by fellow substitute Jack Jones. The ball reached Lee Jones at the back post and his header went back across the face of goal and into the opposite corner of the net.

“That basically put the game to bed – and we were happy to see the game out, though Paul Williams did have to clear off the line from a Port Vale set-piece,” added Cooper. “It was good to keep another clean sheet, though straight after the game I didn’t think that we’d played that well. But looking back there were lots of positives to take from it. We created a few chances, and kept their chances down to a minimum. It’s nice to win ugly at times. We only put in an average performance, but kept our shape defensively and earned the clean sheet.”