Words John Edwards | Pictures Sean Walsh

Altrincham 1 Port Vale 1

A goal fit to win any match and an overall team performance certainly fit to win this one, even if Altrincham ultimately had to settle for a draw after being pegged back in the second half.

This was a night to fill Alty fans with optimism for the season ahead after the Robins took the game to League One Port Vale, particularly in a first half full of free-flowing attacking football, and deservedly led through an exceptional goal finished off in unerring style by Keaton Ward.

The visitors from two divisions above Alty finally hauled themselves level in a more evenly-contested second half, but when the serious stuff starts at Rotherham on Saturday, it's unlikely they will find themselves as stretched as they were in an exhilarating first 45 minutes at The J.Davidson Stadium this evening.

New signings Ward and James Gale were very much to the fore, while the pace and trickery of Olly Crankshaw and Kahrel Reddin on the flanks frequently lit up the Robins' penultimate warm-up game before the visit of Aldershot Town marks the launch of another Enterprise National League campaign a week on Saturday.

A clever turn by Crankshaw gave him the chance to sprint away from Kyle John in the sixth minute, only for the Vale right-back to send him sprawling with a crunching late challenge that could easily have led to the night's first yellow card.

Fortunately for Alty, and everyone wishing the former Stockport winger better luck with injuries, he was able to haul himself back to his feet and continue.

A minute later, a through ball from Lewis Banks was nudged forward by Gale, and Ward was not far away with a first-time chip that floated beyond the stranded keeper but just cleared the bar.

There was a vibrancy about Alty's attacking play, and they threatened again after 10 minutes.

A Tylor Golden backheel allowed Crankshaw to take a couple of steps infield from the left before drilling a low effort that clipped the outside of the near post, with the diving keeper struggling to reach it.

On the other flank, Reddin's lightning acceleration was causing Vale untold problems, and when he outstripped his marker again after 14 minutes, his cross was nodded narrowly over by Ward.

The visitors had a sizeable following behind them at the Timpson away end, and those travelling fans may well have been viewing proceedings with a degree of apprehension, given the close proximity of another League One campaign and the fact Alty were all over their team in the opening stages.

A nutmeg that left his marker standing and took the prominent Crankshaw into space after 20 minutes was indicative of how things were going, even if the cross that followed was slightly overhit.

A marginal offside decision spared John's blushes after 21 minutes, as the defender turned a driven low cross by Ward into his own net from close range, just as the linesman's flag went up.

It is sometimes difficult to know what a player has to do to get a booking in a pre-season game, and we were no nearer solving that conundrum after a Vale trialist somehow escaped sanction for a pain-inflicting late lunge on Gale that left the Alty striker needing lengthy treatment.

Jordan Shipley became the latest beneficiary of the referee's reluctance to reach for his pocket when he floored Crankshaw with what was more an outright kick than a foul tackle.

Again there was no card, though a Vale player did finally see yellow as half-time approached when Jayden Stockley was cautioned for a flailing elbow.

Alty took the most deserved of leads just before the break when a flowing move from one side of the pitch to the other was rounded off by an outstanding curling shot from 20 yards by Ward that gave the keeper no chance.

Gale almost doubled the lead in the 47th minute after latching on to a Reddin pass on the right and shrugging off a challenge before cutting in along the bye-line and hitting a low angled shot that the keeper turned round the post.

Another lovely Alty move threatened a second goal again in the 52nd minute after half-time substitute Charlie Kirk sent Gale scampering clear down the left and kept going to meet the striker's cutback with a first-time shot that was just too close to the keeper.

Luke Hutchinson was finally tested in the 57th minute, but he was equal to it as he got down smartly to smother a low shot from Shipley.

There was nothing the on-loan Alty keeper could do to prevent Vale equalising in the 71st minute, when a ball was floated into the Alty area and Ben Heneghan won the aerial duel to glance a close-range header into the net.

Alty couldn't find a winner, despite some nice touches from young prospect Remi Raymond, and had to settle for a draw. But what a highly creditable draw it was.

Altrincham Hutchinson (Fallon, 71'); Banks, Baines (c) (Reed, 40'), Trialist (Bailey, 65'), Marriott (Kosylo, 61'), Reddin, Crawford (Osborne, 46'), Gale (Knowles, 61'), Ward (Raymond, 61'), Crankshaw (Kirk, 46'), Golden.

Port Vale Trialist; Heneghan, Gordon, Stockley (c) (Trialist, 56'), Trialist (Richards, 46'), Croasdale, Shipley (Shorrock, 72'), Plant, John (Lomax, 56'), Walters, Hart. Subs not used: Davies, Hunter, Wara.

HT 1-0

Goals Ward 44' | Heneghan 71'

Yellows None | None

Reds None | None

Referee Garreth Rhodes

Assistants Matt Archibald & Curtis Wood

Fourth official Lewis Dawson

Attendance 1,333 (379 away)

Next Up

Our second and final home friendly of the summer sees Nottingham Forest B visit The J.Davidson Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

Get your tickets & hospitality for the game online OR pay on the day via our cash turnstiles - 18 and over £10 | 17 and under £5

*A reminder: Alty season tickets receive FREE entry on Saturday