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Port Vale 1 Macclesfield Town 4

Mike Glendinning
24/ 9/2008

MACC blew away Port Vale with a fine second half performance to fire themselves into the top half of the table.

Skipper Terry Dunfield opened the scoring and Vale levelled through Louis Dodds but, after a double strike from Simon Yeo, Izak Reid rocketed a late volley to cap a memorable derby day for the Silkmen.

More than 500 fans made the short trip to Vale Park and they were rewarded with their side’s third straight win and the best showing of the season.

The visitors started brightly but former Vale keeper Jonny Brain comfortably dealt with early pot-shots from Dodds, Luke Rodgers and Marc Richards.

Macc sprang into life after half an hour when Yeo was narrowly beaten to James Jennings’ low cross by Luke Prosser.

Franny Green, who came in for the suspended Gareth Evans, gathered Yeo’s through-ball and outpaced his marker but could only fire into the side netting.

Ten minutes before half-time, Jennings was brought down on the edge of Chris Martin’s area by Prosser. Dunfield slotted the resulting free-kick beyond the wall and the rooted keeper.

Danny Thomas’ powerful run at the defence resulted in a weak shot undeserving of the preceding charge, that Martin gathered easily.

The Valiants’ equaliser came on the stroke of half-time. Richards’ free-kick, from a similar range to Dunfield’s, hit the post. Dodds prodded home the rebound from six yards, with Shaun Brisley unlucky to hit the roof of the net with his attempted clearance.

The second half belonged solely to Macc. Early on, Yeo chanced his arm with a shot on the turn that ran parallel with the goalline and Thomas’ hesitation allowed Prosser to block his shot.

Midway through the half, Howland collected a pass from Rodgers and went down in the box, prompting Vale calls for a penalty that referee IainWilliamson waved away.

Three minutes later, the man in the middle did point to the spot, but at the other end of the pitch, where Izak Reid had been hauled down by Lee Collins. Yeo rifled the penalty in off the underside of the bar to restore Macc’s lead.

It got better for the visitors five minutes from time when Yeo collected substitute Ahmed Deen’s pass and turned Chris Slater, racing away to secure the points with a neat finish.

As the home fans made for the exits, Reid compounded their misery with a stunning volley from outside the box.