No title, but still a day to party for Moore's players

PORT Vale missed out on the League Two title, but it couldn't dampen the party spirit on the final day of the season.

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CLIVE YOULTON continues his review of the Valiants’ season...

SO it was all down to the final game of the League Two season to see whether Port Vale could win the League Two title.

Many would argue the silverware should have been on the mantelpiece long before then.

But even so, if they could beat Gillingham at home on the last day in front of a bumper crowd, and Doncaster failed to win at Notts County, the crown would be theirs. A draw would have been enough had Rovers lost.

But this was to be no fairytale ending in front of a crowd of 13,661, the club's biggest home attendance since 1989.

They lost 1-O meaning they had only collected four points - dropping eight - from their final four matches of the campaign.

The supporters had come out in force - thousands of extras - and the day didn't go without its issues, in particular in the Bycars Stand where Vale had allocated additional tickets for home fans close to away supporters.

But it hardly seemed to matter that the Valiants lost the game while the hopes of a first league title for Vale since 1959 just about disappeared when Doncaster Rovers went 2-0 up at Notts County midway through the first half.

Moore's side needed help from County but in the event, that didn't happen, nor did they help themselves as they suffered a 10th league defeat when the first objective was to make sure they won.

It was the 10th game from 46 where Vale had failed to score.