Gary Waddock might also have given consideration to another footballing cliché – the one about players, not formations, deciding games.
Until his 28th minute switch to 4-4-2, Vale had been fully deserving of the 1-0 lead given them by Rob Taylor, picking up Hudson’s loose ball in midfield to ghost past Winfield and finish low across Jaimez-Ruiz.
Vale’s fluidity caused problems from the kick off – Rob Taylor’s crossed which fizzed through the six-yard box and Dodds’ drive just over, in the first couple of minutes – leaving a stilted Shots to fight for scraps. Tentative signs of cohesion had crept into their game, but it was only with Soares’ move to the right of midfield that they truly imposed themselves.
Thereafter, the more balanced Shots were galvanised and could easily have gone ahead before the break. Ultimately, though, they had to be content with Soares’ equaliser, drilling a tight, low shot into the corner, as Vale’s 3-man defence stood strong.
Hudson somehow contrived to miss an open goal from three yards, as Morgan’s teasing ball across the goal-mouth seemingly laid the winner on his plate, and Morgan himself nearly stumbled through the box to scramble a goal, but the second-half couldn’t quite match the opening 45 minutes for excitement, and both sides were happy with a point.
Less pleasing, again, were injuries to Sandell, with a medial ligament strain, and Jaimez-Ruiz, further stretching Aldershot’s already thin squad. They have a week to patch things up but Waddock’s renewed request for funds will again fall on stony ground. The trip to Crewe Alexandra may now require a siege mentality, but at least The Shots have proved that they have the stomach for the fight.