Port Vale 1-0 Notts County (EFL League Two) 13.02.25

Notts County were disappointingly beaten in Staffordshire as Port Vale substitute Ronan Curtis scored the all important goal of the night as sixth placed Vale close the gap on second spot Notts to just a point after 30 matches of the Football League Two season played.

Stuart Maynard will see it as a missed opportunity to pull away from the promotion place chasers as his side, largely dominant during the first half created chances with one double stop from Ben Amos denying Jacob Bedeau an opener.

Notts in Netherlands orange controlled most of the opening 45 with plenty of possession with an early attempt blocked and Bedeau forcing the best out of former Manchester United goalkeeper Amos after he fumbled his first shot from close range, a second attempt was blocked by a defender inside the area and a third would be tipped around the post as it looked to be heading into the bottom corner.

Opposite ends, Alex Bass in the Notts goal was largely redundant and the home side offered little threat, until former Portsmouth striker Ronan Curtis made his way onto the pitch for the injured Jayden Stockley on 50 minutes.

Curtis was an instant menace and Notts never really came out in the second half, a flat performance allowing Vale back in and late on, a right wing cross by Lorent Tolaj found Curtis waiting at the back post to chest down unmarked before volleying low through the keepers legs, an eightieth minute winner for Darren Moore’s hosts.

After that, Notts began to play with more urgency and again controlled most of the possession and territory as they looked for a late leveller, a few sniffs of danger before a late opportunity for new signing Mai Traore went agonisingly close to a debut goal, his header from a free kick crashing off the bar before he nodded wide the rebound, it would have been a 95th minute equaliser but in the end, was a pointless night in Stoke.

County boss Stuart Maynard saying after “I think the performance levels were very good but we had three massive moments and we need to take one of them.”

“When you lose a game of football, we have to bounce back. We have been in incredible form and tonight we performed really well but not got the result the performance deserved.”

Notts host Colchester next on Tuesday, by then with the League Two table so tight, they could be back outside the promotion places.

*Main image @Official_NCFC Notts Manager Stuart Maynard says his side now must bounce back.