Myrie-Williams spot on in win

Saturday 5 April 2014 19:08, UK

Jennison Myrie-Williams netted a second-half penalty to give Port Vale a 1-0 victory and end Walsall's five-match unbeaten run.

Both teams threatened in a lively start with Chris Birchall and Doug Loft going close for Vale and home goalkeeper Sam Johnson saving from Romaine Sawyers and Michael Ngoo. But defences remained largely on top during a hard fought first-half which was most notable for a number of crunching tackles. Vale took the lead seven minutes into the second-half after their top scorer Tom Pope was pulled down in the penalty area by Paul Downing. Myrie-Williams made no mistake from the spot as he cracked his left-foot shot inside Richard O'Donnell's left-hand post as the keeper dived to the right. Walsall improved after Amadou Bakayoko and Milan Lalkovic were introduced in a double substitution in the 68th minute. Lalkovic soon forced two diving saves from Johnson before Bakayoko fired a tame shot at the Vale stopper after bursting clear. Loft then went close to doubling Vale's lead before the home side defended doggedly to repel strong pressure in the closing stages. Vale hung on to record a league double over Walsall for the first time since the 1899/1900 season.