Chesterfield and Port Vale shared the points in a Group North EFL Trophy clash that ended 1-1 before being decided by penalties on Tuesday evening. The hosts finished top of the group after the shootout, though the match itself delivered little in the way of clear chances. We had backed Chesterfield to win at 48 per cent confidence, but the game refused to break open.
Onel Hernández gave Chesterfield the lead in the thirty-ninth minute, a moment that looked like it might settle things. Port Vale fought back through Louie Marsh in the sixty-ninth minute, and then the match descended into something else entirely. By then the usual patterns had dissolved.
What followed was a penalty sequence that stretched from the ninety-first to the ninety-sixth minute. George Cardinal Joseph-Hall, Louie Marsh, Liam Mandeville, Rhys Walters and Dylan Duffy scored for Chesterfield; Maleace Asamoah, C. Cook and Cameron Humphreys missed. Will Grigg and Jaheim Headley hit for Port Vale. Onel Hernández, Tom Naylor, Matthew Craig, Tom Pearce, F. Bryden, Joel Randall, Jordan Gabriel, George Byers and Alfie Pond all saw action during the match.
Chesterfield registered 104 attacks against 80 for their visitors, with shots accuracy of 15 per cent compared to 18 per cent. Possession sat at 54 per cent for the hosts, who completed 429 of 512 passes. Port Vale made 355 of 432 attempts. Neither side created a big chance.
The result leaves Chesterfield second in the standings with four points from three games, one behind leaders Port Vale on seven points. The hosts drop to two defeats from three matches, while Port Vale remain unbeaten in two of their three outings. The table goes out of the window in these games, but the gap remains tight.
