Fabien Robert had opened the scoring in the 12th minute but Uche Ikpeazu equalised for Vale and the scores were level at half time. Anton Rodgers put Town back ahead in the 66th minute but Town were denied all three points when Sam Foley fired home from the penalty spot after the referee spotted an infringement during a goalmouth melee and awarded the spot kick.
Mark Cooper kept faith with Fabien Robert and Anton Rodgers who had both scored in Town’s 2-2 draw at Bury and it was the Robins who kicked off playing towards the Town End and they made a bright start keeping possession of the ball in the opening five minutes.
The Robins had a corner in the 6th minute when Thompson’s cross was deflected behind and when the ball was crossed, the referee Brendan Malone penalised Town for an off the ball incident involving Michael Smith a Vale defender and both players were lectured before play restarted.
Town’s bright start paid dividends in the 12th minute after a move started by Rodgers when his pass towards Byrne was cut out and when the ball came back to him, his inch perfect pass bisected the defence for Fabien Robert to curl a shot past Alnwick in the Vale goal. Nathan Byrne also went close shortly afterwards with a snap shot from the edge of the area which went narrowly wide of the goal.
The Vale keeper had to be off his line quickly to cut out an underhit back pass and he narrowly beat Byrne to the ball taking a knock in the process but he was able to continue after treatment.
Vale equalised in the 21st minute when Rodgers short pass was cut out by Uche Ikpeazu and he managed to shrug off two defenders before firing past Vigouroux in the Town goal who had been virtually a spectator until the goal.
Nathan Byrne tried his luck from distance in the 27th minute but Alnwick caught the ball cleanly.
Anton Rodgers ended a good Town move in the 29th minute when he collected a defensive clearance but his attempted lob went over the crossbar and out for a goalkick.
Sam Foley tried his luck from outside the box but Vigouroux in the Town goal saved his effort easily in the 36th minute.
There was a break in play when Ikpeazu went down appealing for a foul but the referee ignored his claims and played on for a while until he stopped play and dealt with Ikpeazu choosing to restart the action with a dropped ball. The Vale player angered the home fans tumbling under a couple of weak challenges as the match entered the three minutes of added time but there was no further action to report before the half time whistle was blown.
Vale kicked off but it was Town who had the first attack which led to a corner when a cross was deflected behind but the corner led to nothing.
Town continued to pass the ball around well without being able to find a shot on goal and at the other end Vale had two corners in quick succession but the home defence cleared the danger.
The visitors were packing their defence every time Town attacked but eventually the Robins were awarded a free kick in the 54th minute for a foul but the keeper took Smith’s header cleanly.
Vale had a corner in the 56th minute when Dodds’s shot was deflected behind but the Town defence eventually cleared the resulting cross after a scramble in the penalty area.
Dodds popped up in attack again firing in a dipping shot from twenty yards in the 60th minute but the ball went over the crossbar.
Vale were looking more direct than Town and earned a corner in the 64th minute but Vigouroux caught the ball cleanly. Ikpeazu was cautioned shortly afterwards for stopping Vigouroux from putting the ball into play.
Town took the lead in the 66th minute when Anton Rodgers picked up a deflected pass in the penalty area and just beat the Vale keeper to the loose ball to fire home for his second goal in as many games.
Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill did well to carve out some space down the left wing before firing in a good cross to the backpost for Smith to head across goal but the defence cleared the ball.
Vale captain Carl Dickinson was cautioned for a late challenge in the 70th minute as his side’s frustrations grew .
The visitors made three substitutions in the 74th minute replacing Ikpeazu, Dodds and Kelly with Leitch-Smith, Daniel and Lloyd in an effort to try and get something from the game.
Yaser Kasim was penalised for fouling Leitch-Smith in the 77th minute but the resulting free kick saw the ball run out for a goal kick.
Anton Rodgers was replaced by Drissa Traore making his Town debut in the 82nd minute and Rodgers left the field to good applause.
Vale earned a corner in the 85th minute after a period of pressure but the ball was cleared long downfield by Turnbull.
Traore marked his debut with a yellow card for a late challenge in the 86th minute but Vale were unable to threaten from the resulting free kick.
Richard Duffy was cautioned for fouling Byrne just inside the Vale half and Town introduced Kevin Stewart in place of Robert who also received a standing ovation in recognition of his second goal in as many games.
Town were awarded a free kick at the start of the 4 minutes of added time but the resulting short free kick routine was wasted.
Vale had a corner in the second minute of added time which saw Nathan Thompson make an outstanding stop from the resulting attack.
There was real drama late on after a corner to Vale when the referee awarded a penalty following a goal mouth melee and up stepped Sam Foley to score the equaliser with a shot straight down the middle to level the scores in the 6th minute of added time. That proved to be the last action of the night.