Tolaj strike clinches vital win at Vale

PLYMOUTH Argyle ended a six-match losing run with a scrappy but vital 1-0 victory in their bottom-of-the-table League One clash away to Port Vale.

- By CHRIS ERRINGTON @chriserrington1

Argyle players celebrate Lorent Tolaj goal against his former club

(GEORGE WASS/PPAUK)

It was striker Lorent Tolaj who scored the all-important goal for the Pilgrims as he came up against his former club Port Vale for the first time since his £1.2 million transfer in August.

He came up with a clinical finish just 19 seconds after halftime for his ninth goal in all competitions for the Pilgrims and that was enough to see them pick up maximum points after a stubborn defensive display.

Vale threw on attacking players and repeatedly launched the ball into the Argyle box in the closing stages in desperate search for an equaliser but the Pilgrims held firm.

There was relief, and celebration, for the near 900-strong travelling Green Army at the sound of the final whistle, but Vale’s furious fans turned on their manager Darren Moore as their side replaced Argyle at the bottom of the table.

Argyle's starting lineup showed three changes from their previous match, which was the 1-0 Vertu Trophy defeat away to Bristol Rovers on November 11 as goalkeeper Conor Hazard, defender Brendan Galloway and on-loan Middlesbrough midfielder Law McCabe all came into the team.

Hazard, who had played for Northern Ireland in a 1-0 win against Luxembourg in a 2026 World Cup qualifier in Belfast last Monday, was the Pilgrims’ captain as Luca Ashby-Hammond returned to the substitutes’ bench.

The fit-again Ayman Benarous and Joe Edwards were also named among the substitutes, as was Joe Ralls, who was included in an Argyle matchday squad for the first time since joining as a free agent earlier in the month.

In what was a sixth successive away game for the Pilgrims, they lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, with former Port Vale striker Tolaj leading the attack and Bali Mumba playing behind him.