PORT VALE 1 CITY 1

THE DANCE steps probably wouldn’t score too highly with the Strictly judges but Lee Angol is already proving a perfect 10 with City’s fans.

If this was anything to go by, the striker may get plenty of practice to polish up that goal celebration.

That is certainly the hope for Derek Adams and the Bantams faithful who can see in Angol a player clearly too talented for his current level.

The big problem, of course, has been keeping him fit and looking after those suspect hamstrings that have dogged his recent career.

The way City can successfully “cotton-wool” Angol through the rest of the campaign could be just as crucial as his contribution on it.

A fully-fit, fully-firing Angol will be a powerful weapon if Adams’ side are going to punch their weight in the promotion battle.

It’s just getting that run of games – and managing his minutes so carefully – that will be down to the City boss and his staff.

The transformation once Angol came on at Vale Park was obvious. The team looked a different beast with him at the pinnacle.

The pre-match build-up had focused on Theo Robinson returning to his most recent previous employer on a hot run of three goals in four games.

The local boo boys oiled their vocal chords accordingly and gave him the raucous reception he had no doubt expected. An early song about a hat was less than complimentary.

Robinson played the “comedy villain” for an hour – a miscontrol and loose pass loudly jeered by one section of the crowd, a decent shot blocked by Vale keeper Lucas Covolan heartily cheered by another with a claret and amber persuasion.

But it was replacement Angol who would deliver the lasting impact on a contest that flitted between scrappy and frenetic.

You would be hard pushed to describe it as classic TV for the national armchair public. But it was an intriguing battle between two teams with genuinely lofty ambitions.

And, thanks to a classic striker’s finish, City battled to retain their unbeaten tag from this run of fixtures against all of League Two’s early pace-setters.

The return of Angol after nearly three months in casualty could not have come at a better time, especially with top scorer Andy Cook now taking his place on the side-lines for the foreseeable future.

As is often the way with injured players, the longer they are missing the better they become in the eyes of supporters.

The hype surrounding Angol’s recovery has been mounting with each week – and each chance missed by his team.

The outpouring of elation and relief that greeted his second-half equaliser demonstrated that.

Fans had seen enough in the opening weeks to know how good Angol can be. This was a tasty reminder of what City have been missing.

The visitors were ultimately good value for a point that wrecked Vale’s march towards an eighth successive home win.

And restricting a side that have been scoring goals by the shedload to only one is no mean feat right now.

The goal itself will pain City – coming as it did within less than 30 seconds of Charles Vernam spurning a glorious opportunity at the other end.

If that was painfully familiar, how about the way they allowed Vale to break from their own half – and then make such a pig’s ear of attempts to clear from the danger area.

No wonder Richard O’Donnell was spitting feathers after his defence had self-destructed faced by a surging run from David Amoo and the penalty-box persistence of James Wilson.

That blighted an otherwise solid display that had knocked Vale out of their usual attacking swing as City once again went toe-to-toe with another opponent from the top echelon of the division.

The first half had been surprisingly low key with the best openings falling to the away side.

Robinson threatened to silence the catcalls with a decent snapshot and was also inches away from connecting with a spot-on cross from Vernam that was screaming to be buried.

Vernam himself was also guilty of snatching at another presentable chance just before the break – a lack of composure when it mattered letting down an otherwise very lively personal display.

O’Donnell had pulled off two near-identical saves from outside the box to deny James Gibbons and Vale’s impressive captain Tom Conlon.

But generally City had rebuffed most things thrown at them – literally in the case of the missile throw-ins that Dan Jones hurled deep into the box. They also stood their ground to defend seven corners before the break.

The biggest concern for Adams was keeping hold of a full complement of players as Oscar Threlkeld skated the thinnest of ice.

Booked for a check on Tom Pett to stop Vale breaking from their own half, he somehow escaped a second yellow from referee Lee Swaby after another clumsy foul minutes later outside the City penalty area.

It was no surprise that Adams made the switch at half-time to bring on Lee Ridehalgh and move Matty Foulds across to the right – where the youngster flourished.

Foulds, seen as a bit-part back-up at the start of the season, continues to put down a real marker for regular involvement.

And he justified Adams’ faith with a decent half on his “wrong” side – capped with the perfect delivery for Angol’s header.

But the Achilles heel of scorning juicy chances continues to hurt.

That was clear with the air-kick from Vernam after Levi Sutton had laid a goal on a plate early in the second half.

Vale countered swiftly through Amoo, who rampaged forward and turned Paudie O’Connor before Yann Songo’o appeared to trip over his own feet in a feeble attempt to clear the loose ball.

Wilson nipped in and rode his luck with a ricochet off O’Donnell to bury the rebound.

It’s not the first time in recent weeks that City have conceded to a goal that began when their own attack broke down but Songo’o, who had been as strong as anyone at the back up to then, will be embarrassed by the replays.

Adams reacted quickly with changes to personnel and shape. Callum Cooke’s arrival gave them more possession in midfield, Angol’s that physical edge up front.

It soon paid off as Foulds swooped on a hurried half-clearance on the touchline, shifted the ball to his favoured left foot and swung in the perfect cross for Angol to climb above Lewis Cass and dispatch inside the far post.

Cue the dodgy shimmy in front of the ecstatic away end before the pile-on from the rest of his team – and the exciting prospect that there will hopefully be more where that came from.

Just pray that he can stay fit.