| PORT VALE 0 CITY 3 Friendly 26th July 2006 Attendance 3,769 Scorers Barton(8, 31, 40) |
Port Vale Goodlad, McGregor, Talbot, Walker, Walsh, Whitaker, Harsley, Birchall, J.Smith, Sodje, Constantine – used subs C.Smith(84),Husbands(79), Hulbert(46), Lowndes(79), Abbey(24) – unused subs Anyon, Cardle, Briscoe
JOEY BARTON CELEBRATES AN EXCELLENT HAT-TRICK
The Blues travelled to the Potteries to take on Martin Foyle’s Port Vale with the heatwave still gripping the nation and there was a continental pace to the opening exchanges between the teams. With a sparse crowd at Vale Park relaxing in the warm sunshine, it was the Blues who opened the scoring when Joey Barton tapped home from a couple of yards following good work by Trevor Sinclair.
The Blues increased their lead on 31 minutes with ‘a goal that had the Vale players angrily chasing the referee. A free-kick was awarded inside the Vale box for an infringement and the quickthinking Paul Dickov grabbed the ball, placed it down and tapped it to Barton who rolled the ball home in the confusion. Despite the protests the goal stood and eight minutes later Barton grabbed his first senior City hat-trick with a smart shot from the edge of the box completing his treble. There were substitutions aplenty after the break but no further scoring as City continued their unbeaten pre-season in relative comfort.
THE CITY MAGAZINE AUGUST 2006
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