Port Vale boss John Askey delighted with Leon Legge’s display against Harrogate

Posted Sunday, September 27, 2020 by PA

Port Vale boss John Askey hailed the defensive efforts of captain Leon Legge as his side were frustrated in a 0-0 draw against Sky Bet League Two newcomers Harrogate.

The Valiants kept their third consecutive clean sheet in the league but created little against resolute Harrogate in a game of few chances.

Winger David Worrall came closest to finding a winner when his 63rd-minute left-footed effort struck the outside of the post.

Worrall found the net with a looping header in the 12th minute but had his effort disallowed for a push in the back as Vale looked to gain control.

Scott Brown kept Vale level before half-time as his brilliant reflex save prevented Aaron Martin scoring with a close-range header.

Martin almost stole all three points for Harrogate in stoppage time but could not direct his header into the net.

Vale captain Legge was dominant throughout and Askey reserved praise for the defender.

He said: “It was a captain’s performance like at Exeter, I thought he was immense today and I can’t remember him putting a foot wrong.

“I am pleased with how we played defensively but we were restricted to few chances so we have to improve on the other side of the game.

“At the moment we look organised but it was the other side of the game we have to improve on.

“We’ve got to do better when we’ve got the ball; simple passes were going astray and that’s why the game didn’t flow and we didn’t create as many chances as we should have.

“We expect more now and the performance wasn’t up there we want it to be, but it was a point.

“It’s early days and we’ve had a decent start but that’s all it is and after about 10 games we’ll find out whereabouts we are in the table.

“Harrogate are a strong team and if they keep playing like they are they will cause teams problems and be up there.”

Town boss Simon Weaver took the positives as his side maintained their unbeaten start.

“I’m very pleased, we see this as a valuable point against a team with great momentum,” he said.

“They’ve got some good talented attacking players and we can’t undervalue the performances of our backline.

“They really made sure we made a clean sheet today by defending one-on-one situations very well indeed.

“Its good that we’ve managed to come to this ground and work to get a stubborn point.

“We’d like a bit more spark in attack but the batteries are a bit low at the moment and we’ve just got to take a bit of respite and appreciate the efforts of the players this season.”