Vale squeeze through in Cup
A first-half goal from Justin Richards secured Port Vale a 1-0 win over Accrington and a place in the third round of the FA Cup for the first time in five seasons.
Accrington started the tie brightly, but Vale had begun to turn the tide before Richards struck the 24th minute decider with his third goal in four games.
Richards, who had previously gone 13 matches without scoring, fired the ball into the roof of the net after Rob Taylor headed Gary Roberts' cross into the six-yard box.
Vale almost doubled their lead when John McCombe headed against the crossbar, but Accrington's Ray Putterill also struck the woodwork with a 20-yard shot following a corner from Charlie Barnett.
The visitors made a strong start to the second half and Charlie Barnett almost rewarded increasing pressure when he was a whisker off target from 20 yards.
And it needed a terrific goal-line clearance by Kris Taylor from substitute Chris Turner's shot in the dying seconds to secure Vale's 13th clean sheet of the campaign and deny Accrington a replay.
Port Vale 1-0 Accrington Stanley: Match Report - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game as it happended.
Source: DSG
