Valiants dig deep to secure point after Clark sees red...

PORT Vale had to show plenty of resilience on their trip to Chesterfield. CLIVE YOULTON continues his review of the Valiants' season...

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THE 1-1 draw at Chesterfield on January 25 showed just how stoic and difficult to beat Port Vale had become.

It was a match heavily influenced by the sending off of Mitch Clark.

The draw at the SMH Group Stadium was a point gained in the circumstances after Moore's side were forced to defend the final 40 minutes plus stoppage time with 10 men.

After Vale had gone ahead after just two minutes of the game with a goal from Jayden Stockley, they were in control and should have gone on to capitalise on other chances created as they forged a number of excellent openings before Chesterfield finished the first half strongly.

With Vale still leading 1-0 at the break, Clark was sent off immediately after half-time when he tried to win the ball but went over the top on Aribim Pepple.

It had a dramatic impact on the rest of the encounter as Chesterfield camped in Vale's half for the remainder of the contest, where Vale defended magnificently.

It took an error from substitute Tom Sang to gift the home team an equaliser with 15 minutes to play but apart from that, you have to hand it to Vale for the way they defended in extreme adversity.

Once again teams at the top of the division failed to take advantage with only two sides in the top 12 winning - Bradford City and Doncaster Rovers. It meant Vale ended the day in fourth place in the League Two table.