Villa Park final was in reach of Le Page's stars

JOHN REID said he was heartbroken, while Dave Dorey recalls them as heady and exciting days for the club. But in the grand scheme of all things football, Vale Rec should look back at their second Rothmans National Cup campaign in the winter of 1976-7 with great pride. They were great times for the yellows who this year celebrate their first 70 years of existence.

Vale's big breakthrough at domestic level had come five years earlier and by the 76-77 season they were going in search of a fifth straight Priaulx League title and a decent run in the still relatively new Rothmans National Cup, which featured two representatives from each of the six leagues it sponsored: the Priaulx, Jersey Combination, Hellenic, Isthmian, Northern and Western, 12 teams in total.

The previous season and on their competition debut both Vale and St Martin's had gone out in the first round to Northern League sides.

The Rec had lost 2-0 at home to Shildon, while Saints were hammered 8-0 at Willington.

On paper, Vale were no better or worse going into the second Rothmans campaign.

Art Le Page was the manager and the club still had all their big guns of the era.

While Saints were crashing spectacularly again - this time 5-1 to Frome Town - Vale won through three rounds to reach the semi-finals and were one more victory away from an appearance at Villa Park.

'They really were exciting times because we were also successful on the domestic front,' recalls Dorey, who was in only his second season as the club's football secretary.

In the opening round on 4 December 1976 Vale edged past St Luke's College, Exeter, 1-0 away, a Nigel Le Page strike finally undoing the Western League semi-pros.

Then came mighty Consett, champions of the Northern League, arguably the strongest of the six Rothmans leagues in those pre-Conference days.

Consett arrived expecting to put six past the Corbet Fielders, their president admitting as much afterwards.

Ninety minutes later they trudged off the Corbet 2-0 losers and Vale were into the last eight.

'Tich' Bougourd put Vale ahead after nine minutes and Le Page added the second in the 55th, but the home side were indebted to a brilliant performance from their keeper, Dave Jones.

'He had a marvellous game and a marvellous seasaon which resulted in him winning his one and only Muratti cap,' recalled Dorey.

Rex Bennet described the win over the team from Durham as 'their greatest ever achievement'.

Vale were cheered on by a crowd which today's players would give their right arm for.

'We really appreciated the crowd,' said Le Page, described by Reid, Vale's current boss, as 'very good, very direct in his talking and strict.

'They got behind us right from start and gave us tremendous encouragement. The atmosphere was great,' said Le Page after the game.

'It's got to be our best performance in my time. The lads really showed a lot of skills. We could have had four or five goals but I must admit that but for Dave Jones they would have had two or three,' the coach added.

Vale were to get another home draw in the quarter-finals, this time the Western League outfit Clandown.

The yellows won 3-1 but the game was overshadowed by an alleged dive by Vale winger 'Goosey' Gleeson w hich local ref John Rolph fell for with Vale hanging onto a 2-1 lead.

Dave Lesbirel tucked away the penalty and Vale were safe.

But Rolph's decision enraged the visitors and when Channel TV cameras showed Gleeson going down rather more easily than he should have, Clandown's argument appeared all the stronger.

Bennet's Saturday column pointed the finger squarely at the winger.

Under the headline: 'Did Gleeson dive? - Evidence weighs heavily against him', Bennet quoted an anonymous 'respected islander' who was close to the incident.

'He wasn't pushed, tripped or anything else. He was guilty of the most blatant act of gamesmanship.'

Whatever. The penalty was won and converted and Le Page's men were into the semis where the luck of the draw went against them and they were sent to County Durham for another meeting with a crack Northern League side in Tow Law Town.

The 'Lawyers' as they were known, were not as good a side as Consett but they were to gorge on Vale's mistakes or, more particularly, Reid's.

The jocular Irishman, who was partnering Peter Blondel in centre of defence, did not have one of his better games in the 4-3 defeat, as he readily recognises 30 years later.

He supports Bennet's match assessment that he was responsible for two of the home side's goals.

'One of them was an own goal that Denis Law would have been proud of. I gave Davie Jones no chance.

'For another I went up for a header and the ref decided to give a penalty.

'We were one game away from Villa Park and it broke my heart.'

Six of the seven goals came in the first period and Vale twice led through Lesbirel's opener and then a Ray Blondel cracker which made it 3-2.

In between Le Page netted the second with a rocket header.

'Ray scored an uunbelievable goal that day,' a goal symptomatic of the era at the Corbet Field recalls the Irishman.

'It was an exciting time for the club.'

With Dorey's organisational skills in mind, Reid said: 'Everything was done and dusted behind the scenes and you just got onto the pitch and played.'

And played they did.