Mansfield 0-1 Port Vale: Spurs loanee Alfie Devine nets second-half winner to send visitors into Carabao Cup quarter-finals for first time and end dream run of League Two high-flyers

Port Vale rewrote their nine history arsenic Alfie Devine’s eye-catching solo extremity fired them into nan Carabao Cup quarter-finals for nan first time.

The past clip nan Valiants made nan 4th information stage, they mislaid to Tottenham Hotspur successful 2006-07. This time, it was a Spurs loanee successful 19-year-old Devine who put them successful nan last eight.

The teenager’s extremity came early successful nan second-half and was a reflection of nan League One club’s power arsenic Mansfield - from a section beneath - saw their singular unbeaten commencement to nan play ended.

Nigel Clough’s squad had gone 19 matches undefeated successful each competitions - nan series extending to 20 if you count nan last crippled of past play - but this proved 1 excessively many.

England under-20 world Devine looks a talent and seized nan infinitesimal erstwhile Mansfield allowed him excessively overmuch abstraction to tally into.

Vale will now dream to tie 1 of nan large boys successful nan quarter-finals arsenic they successfully navigated a tricky duty astatine foggy Field Mill.

Vale are 16th successful nan League One array and hardly mounting nan section alight but they still looked acold superior to Mansfield for overmuch of nan contest.

It didn’t return agelong for nan travelling Vale fans to bring up achy memories for nan locals of nan 2022 League Two play-off final, erstwhile they hit Mansfield 3-0. ‘We saw you crying astatine Wembley,’ was 1 early chant.

But of much contiguous interest to everyone wrong nan stadium was nan heavy fog which came and went passim nan evening, astatine times making it tricky to spot nan other broadside of nan pitch.

Vale piled connected nan unit from nan outset, pinch Tom Sang uncovering plentifulness of joyousness down nan correct wing. He was progressive successful nan lead-up to Vale’s first decent chance, an Oliver Arblaster onslaught that had to beryllium saved by Mansfield keeper Christy Pym.

A clearer chance followed for Funso Ojo, who met Sang’s inviting transverse pinch a header that cleared nan crossbar.

Pym was being kept connected his toed and he parried a Sang changeable distant earlier Arblaster came moreover closer, hitting nan extracurricular of nan station aft different ambush down nan correct side.

Mansfield tried to antagonistic and they did manner a very bully opportunity conscionable aft nan half-hour.

Louis Reed crossed from nan correct and Davis Keillor-Dunn couldn’t person met it immoderate sweeter connected nan volley. Unfortunately, it was straight astatine Vale stopper Connor Ripley, who hit it out.

The beingness spot of Vale’s Uche Ikpeazu was a problem for nan location defence pinch 1 of his crosses scrambled distant earlier he fired precocious and wide erstwhile offered a show of goal.

But Vale’s superiority yet told 5 minutes into nan second-half. Devine picked up nan ball, turned past Louis Reed and recovered abstraction to onslaught arsenic Mansfield’s defenders backed disconnected him.

Devine looked up and sensed his opportunity from 25 yards, placing his changeable into nan bottommost area to spark delirium successful nan distant extremity down nan goal.

Seeking thing to spark Mansfield into life, Clough turned to his chair conscionable awkward of nan hr people pinch a triple change.

But Vale continued to move guardant pinch Ikpeazu again holding disconnected his marker earlier clipping nan crossbar. James Plant picked nan shot up and drilled successful a debased near-post changeable that Pym turned aside.

Mansfield request to spell for collapsed and substitute Rhys Oates charged done only for Ripley to smother his changeable arsenic their Wembley dreams vanished successful nan mist.