Port Vale 2 Harrogate Town 0: Advertiser player ratings

Here's an assessment of how Simon Weaver' s men performed during their 2-0 League Two defeat at Port Vale.

Mark Oxley 8 - ADVERTISER STAR MAN. Showed great reactions as he pulled off two excellent saves late on to keep the scoreline at 2-0. Also made a decent stop with his leg to keep out David Worrall in the first half.

Warren Burrell 5.5 - A couple of loose moments in possession during the first half. Didn’t offer much going forwards, though Vale were still able to get in behind down his side of the field on a few occasions. Switched from right-back to left-back after Lewis Page went off.

Rory McArdle 6.5 - Won plenty in the air, including two headers in the Vale box, one of which was cleared off the line while the other teed-up Connor Hall for a strike at goal. Might be disappointed to have nodded the ball back into the middle of the pitch in the lead up Worrall’s stunning opener.

Connor Hall 7 - Town’s best outfield player. Looked strong and composed and made two crucial interventions inside his own box during the second period. Ought to have done much better with a close-range chance from McArdle’s header at a corner.

Lewis Page 6 - Did okay before being forced off in the 36th minute with a hamstring problem. Looked comfortable on the ball and covered across well on a couple of occasions.

George Thomson 6.5 - Engineered two of Town’s three decent chances of the afternoon with a cross from the right and a corner from the left.

Alex Pattison N/A - Suffered a cut to the head within a few seconds of the match kicking-off. Got bandaged up and tried to continue, however he was forced off on 10 minutes. Town really missed his drive in the opposition half.

Josh Falkingham 6 - Neat and tidy in possession but Harrogate were second best in the engine room for much of the contest. Couldn’t get out to Worrall in time to prevent him rifling home a stunning opening goal.

Jack Diamond 4 - His dismissal was needless and left Town with a mountain to climb. A very soft second yellow card, however having already been booked and then warned again by the referee, he shouldn’t have given Mr Kitchen a decision to make. One bright early run aside, he looked out of sorts.

Luke Armstrong 5.5 - Never really in the game and never really looked like scoring. Received very little service, though did climb well to nod a Page corner well over the top in the first half.

Jack Muldoon 6 - Made some intelligent runs off the ball. Got in behind on one occasion and went beyond Vale goalkeeper Lucas Covolan, only for Nathan Smith to nip in with a timely covering challenge.

Substitutes:

Simon Power (on for Pattison, 10) 6.5 - Looked extremely bright following his early introduction. Town’s best attacking moments during the opening 45 came from him using his pace to run at defenders. Sacrificed at half-time as Weaver shuffled his pack in response to going down to 10 men.

Ryan Fallowfield (on for Page, 36) 6 - Added energy to the right-hand side. Provided some useful width by raiding forward on the overlap.

Lloyd Kerry (on for Power, 46) 6 - Brought on to help the Sulphurites be more competitive in midfield, but the match was all but over within about 60 seconds of his arrival.

Aaron Martin (on for Armstrong, 69) N/A.