Alex Mighten stunner helps Nottingham Forest beat Port Vale in sweltering pre-season friendly

Nottingham Forest were victorious in Staffordshire as the Reds beat Port Vale 2-0 in a pre-season friendly thanks to first half goals from Alex Mighten and Jack Colback.

It was the East Midlands side who had the first opening of the encounter as Mighten tried to pick out one of his fellow Forest forwards however the 19-year-old’s cross was overhit and went out for a goal kick.

The home side had the next chance of what was an end-to-end start of the game. Tom Pett swung a dangerous cross in from the right but Forest goalkeeper Jordan Smith was alert to deal with the danger.

After 13 minutes, Mighten was racing down the inside-left channel once again, before cutting in and unleashing a sweet curled strike which opened the scoring, leaving Vale goalkeeper Lucas Covolan firmly rooted to the spot.

Davante Rodney was at the spear-head of Vale’s attempting attacks as he fired a shot from 18 yards, forcing one of many fantastic saves by Jordan Smith. The 26-year-old goalkeeper tipped the Vale man’s shot over the bar, and the Burslem side failed to convert from the following corner as Valiants defender Nathan Smith’s headed effort looped over the goal.

Forest wanted to double their lead as Cafu dispatched a drilled across-goal shot from the right, which was saved by Covolan, but the follow-up was gobbled up by Colback as the ball fell to his feet in the penalty area and he netted the Reds’ second goal of the game after 23 minutes.

James Wilson had a chance to get the home side back in the tie as he struck a half-volley at goal but Jordan Smith was yet again Forest’s saviour as a strong save forced a corner, and again Vale failed to make anything out of it.

The Valiants tried a different approach to try and get a goal back as Dan Jones propelled a long ball into the penalty area however Jordan Smith was there once again to claim the ball.

On the stroke of half-time, Conlon had a free kick from 40 yards out after Rodney was fouled by Colback, the Vale captain failed to convert his audacious attempt as referee Oliver Yates blew for half time.

As the players re-emerged ahead of the second period of play, both sides made changes. For Vale, Jamie Proctor replaced Wilson in attack and Covolan made way in net for Aidan Stone. Forest also changed their goalkeeper as Brice Samba entered the encounter replacing Jordan Smith.

After five minutes of the second half, Rodney cut inside and teed up Brad Walker who’s shot from range flied into the empty Bycars Stand.

Minutes later, Nuno da Costa raced down the left wing and found Mighten, but the ball was soon smothered by Stone.

After the hour mark Forest made a number of substitutions, which saw the eagerly anticipated return of Joe Lolley who missed the end of last season with a hamstring tear.

Conlon was given another opportunity to convert from a free kick after Pett was fouled 20-yards from goal. The Vale man’s strike beat the Forest wall however Samba continued the excellent goalkeeping on display as he got down low to keep the score 2-0.

Play was paused once more for the game’s second drinks break as the Staffordshire sunshine continued to beam down into Vale Park. Valiants’ manager Clarke took this opportunity to make changes as Dan Jones and Conlon departed proceedings making way for Ryan Johnson and trialist Tom Solanke.

Moments later, Rodney was brought down on the by-line in the inside-left channel and won a free kick, but another high Mal Benning cross was easily claimed by Samba.

Both sides made a number of changes with 15 minutes remaining, which gave some young blood the opportunity to impress on the first team stage.

In the last five minutes, Vale had two opportunities to start a late comeback however both chances were wasted by Proctor and Walker respectively as both long-range efforts were blazed over Samba’s goal.

Referee Yates concluded the tie after 87 minutes as Vale couldn’t get back into the tie as the scorching sun continued to shine over Burslem.

Following the game, Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke gave his honest assessment to BBC Radio Stoke’s Phil Bowers:

“It was a good workout, the performance wasn’t what I expected, there were too many individual 5/10 performances. Collectively as a group, the goals we conceded wasn’t good enough – it give them [Nottingham Forest] the impetus of the game.”

Lineups

Port Vale: Covolan (Stone 45′); Jones (Johnson 69′), Martin, Smith; Garrity (Griffiths 77′), Walker, Pett (Dyer 77′), Conlon (C) (Solanke 69′), Benning; Rodney (Bailey 77′), Wilson (Proctor 45′).

Unused substitutes: Lewis Cass and Michael Lennon.

Nottingham Forest: Smith (Samba 45′); Lawrence-Gabriel (Donnelly 73′), Fernandes (Back 73′), Mbe Soh, Richardson (Sanders 73′); Yates (Konate 61′), Colback (Fornah 61′), Cafu (Lolley 61′), Carvalho (Hammond, 61′), Mighten; da Costa (Barnes 61′).

Unused substitute: Jordan Wright.

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