Port Vale 2 Bradford City 2

PORT Vale are one of those clubs who announce every substitution with the name of the sponsor.

In City’s case, the fourth official’s board should be accompanied with a health warning. Stoppage time is not for the faint-hearted types of a claret and amber persuasion.

Vale added their name to a not-so-illustrious list that already includes Gillingham, Scunthorpe and Rochdale as last-gasp points purloiners at the expense of the Bantams.

It happens to every club of course. You only had to flick on Match of the Day on Saturday night to see QPR and Hull going through similar frustrations at seeing well-earned results snatched away with almost the last kick.

But this is the fourth time in the last ten league games when City have let points slither from their grasp at the final knockings.

That’s seven points in total that have got away when the teleprinter on TV is already well down its list of final scores. That could be a significant figure at the final reckoning in their play-off pursuit.

To paraphrase that great football pundit Oscar Wilde, to let one game slip like that is sad, to lose (or draw) four is careless ...

And barring Scunthorpe, it was another game when you could not see it coming. City had been cruising – or so it seemed.

The contest had taken a while to wake up. Before James Hanson headed home an excellent cross from Filipe Morais, the chief topic of interest had been a simmering feud between the Portuguese and Michael Brown.

We know Brown has that knack of being able to start a riot in a phone box and the pair were nibbling away at each other from early on.

Within a minute, Brown was complaining to the ref that he had been caught in the face by a flailing arm. Soon after, Morais was in a heap holding his head after claiming retribution from the Vale battler.

At least it livened up the locals, who spent the rest of the afternoon giving Morais the bird.

But then he hurt them far more with a teasing chip to the far post where Hanson had the simplest of tasks to convert.

There was a resigned air about the home crowd. With second striker Ben Williamson injured, boss Rob Page had not endeared himself by picking the extra midfielder Brown in his place.

Their grumbles at playing 4-5-1 at home were accentuated by the continued presence of former City trialist Achille Campion on the bench.

The Frenchman’s claims for a first start on the back of 11 goals in six reserve games had brought a surprisingly grudging response from his manager.

But Page made the switch at half-time and threw on Campion to play alongside the previously-isolated Tom Pope.

The "Law of the Ex" inevitably dictated what would happen next.

Michael O’Connor met Carl Dickinson’s cross with a towering knockdown and Campion swept home his first Football League goal from six yards.

The forward last seen scoring a hat-trick at Park Avenue in July had his revenge for not earning a Valley Parade deal.

Campion, to his credit, did not gloat afterwards and claimed he had been near to joining City.

"I was very close to signing for them," he said. "We looked at the paperwork but now I am at Port Vale so it is all good.

"Bradford are a good club and I have respect for their manager and players. So for me it doesn’t really matter who I score against."

But the script writers had reckoned without Morais. Not content with supplying City’s opening goal on a plate, he set about swiftly restoring their advantage.

Hanson pressured keeper Chris Neal to James Meredith’s teasing cross. The keeper punched it away as far as the penalty spot, where Morais met it with a crisp volley that flew through the legs of covering defender Richard Duffy on the line.

It was no more than the Portuguese had deserved from an afternoon of non-stop endeavour. It may have been the extra spur of the chorus of public disapproval he received with every touch of the ball but Morais relished the open space of the division’s widest pitch.

Having seen the state of Valley Parade, Page cheekily remarked in the build-up that Vale’s surface would seem like Wembley for City. The visitors certainly tried to get the ball wide at every opportunity and Morais revelled in the extra room more than anybody.

Parkinson even admitted some sympathy for Vale left back Dickinson, the poor soul charged with trying to keep the winger in check.

The City boss said: "Fil was superb all game and Dickinson didn’t know whether to stick or twist. If he got tight, Fil spun in behind, if he sat off then Fil just ran at him."

That should have been the talking point at the end of City’s seventh – and one of their most comfortable – away victories.

With Vale showing little evidence of a second fightback, the only question was whether the Bantams could add to their advantage.

Hanson came close from Jon Stead’s low cross but Neal made an important block to go with another fine one earlier to deny Billy Knott a goal-scoring return to the club who were so keen to sign him ahead of City.

When Knott went off ten minutes from time to a loud ovation from every corner, the job looked done.

Traditional goal threat Pope, apart from one volley wide, was firmly in the pocket of Rory McArdle. Vale looked cooked.

But then, with the game meandering into the second of four added minutes, sub Mark Yeates tried a short pass in the centre circle rather than launching it harmlessly into home territory.

Vale regained possession, Pope played in Chris Birchall and he had too much pace for Andrew Davies. Pickford met him with a clatter right on the edge of the penalty area and was heading again to a slightly earlier bath than his team-mates.

Ben Williams guessed right with O’Connor’s penalty but the shot was too precise right into the corner. It was frustrating for the keeper; even more so for the rest.

Port Vale v City picture gallery