Crewe manager Lee Bell was disappointed his side did not come away with all three points against 10-man Port Vale, despite leaving it late to snatch a 1-1 draw at the League Two leaders.
A stunning volley from 17-year-old Jack Shorrock put Vale ahead early on and, despite Rekeem Harper being sent off shortly after the break, it looked as though the hosts were going to hang on for victory.
Substitute Jack Lankester equalised in stoppage time to stretch the Railwaymen’s unbeaten league run to eight matches, but Bell felt the win was there for the taking.
“The overriding emotion is that we sit in the dressing room again having played against a team that’s slightly above us in the league, and I think this is the third time now, and we’re slightly disappointed that we’ve not won the game,” he said.
“I’m asking the players to really realise the potential they have in that dressing room because once they do realise – the young ones in particular – how good they actually are, I think they’ll be a really good team.
“It was about getting a couple of switches in and getting closer towards their box for something like that (the equaliser) to happen, like it did for Jack.
“But if we had another 10 minutes I think we would have been standing here as winners.”
The result sees Vale extend their lead at the top of the table to four points, with Walsall second and Crewe a further point back in third.
Vale manager Darren Moore viewed it as a point gained, rather than two points dropped.
“When you’ve got as much control in the game, obviously the course of it changes when Rek gets sent off,” he said.
“The outlook of the game changes because it’s about us sitting in and looking for the right moments to try and break out.
“But I thought as the game wore on as late as it did, you can never say you’ve done enough because it only takes a second to score, and that was the case.
“But certainly we can’t as a football club feel really disappointed because I thought the Vale fans saw a spirited team committed to the cause, committed to the football club, and a team that shows we’ve got the right culture at the football club and the right mentality.
“Last season, six or seven months ago, there’s no way we come out of that game, so credit to the players.
“I said to them that we’ll learn a lot from that today and it’ll stand us in good stead for future games this season.”
