A MISSED OPPORTUNITY SEES

DOMINANT VALE FRUSTRATED

- Clive Youlton

PORT Vale were unable to take advantage of their first-half dominance at AFC Wimbledon and ultimately had to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw.

Darren Moore's side had more possession, more shots and more penalty box entries than their hosts, and in George Hall, Devante Cole and Jordan Gabriel had three of the best performers on the pitch.

It was Cole who grabbed the 86th-minute leveller after ex-Vale loanee Antwoine Hackford had given Johnnie Jackson's side the lead.

But Vale really need to capitalise and be more clinical when they are on top, and just three wins from 12 League One matches is a below-par return given decent performances.

There was another potential injury problem for yet another wingback too as Gabriel was left in a heap behind the advertising hoardings having seemingly damaged his right ankle having just had a shot blocked in the final moments.

With Liam Gordon, Jaheim Headley, Mitch Clark and Kyle John sidelined, it is fast becoming a crisis, and there wasn't a single defender on the bench.

After two games having stuck to an unchanged starting XI, Moore couldn’t resist reverting to wholesale changes, even though Ben Amos coming in for Joe Gauci was enforced with the Aston Villa man away on international duty.

Two more changes were needed too as Headley and Cameron Humphreys were absent through injury, while Jordan Shipley and Dajaune Brown dropped to the bench.

In came Ben Heneghan alongside the wholehearted Jesse Debrah, superb again on the day, and Connor Hall, while Ronan Curtis and Ryan Croasdale were also included. George Hall was named for his first start.

Three absentees from the last league matchday squad against Northampton meant there were also recalls for Mo Faal and Rhys Walters, the latter making a rare appearance in the League One reckoning, but he was not included in the action.