Jon Brady praises two-goal Ethon Archer as lowly Port Vale beat Peterborough

Port Vale manager Jon Brady saw practise make perfect for Ethon Archer after the winger struck two wonderful free-kicks in his side’s 3-1 victory at Peterborough.

This deserved win at the Weston Homes Stadium is surely too little, too late for the Valiants as far as their Sky Bet League One survival hopes are concerned, given they are still 12 points adrift of safety.

It has, however, added to the anxiety some Peterborough fans may be feeling as, with four points separating them from the drop zone, they still are not safe from relegation themselves.

Brady said: “Ethon works in training at it. It’s not just pot luck; he works in training at it, he takes the mannequins out, puts them down and works on different areas, and two exceptional strikes.

“I think the ‘keeper was in the middle of the goal for the second one because he wasn’t sure whether he was going right or left.

“It’s an even better one, for me, but they’re both brilliant strikes.

“It was an incredible performance against a side that can rip you apart – their frontline is exceptional.

“To reduce them to three shots on target, the goal was disappointing from the corner but of their shots on target, one of them was the goal and the other two were quite tame.

“So, to come here where they are pretty rampant – I’ve seen them play here live and rip Bolton apart, and for us to play like that is pretty special.”

Vale led after just three minutes through Ryan Croasdale before Archer doubled their advantage in the 16th minute with the first of his set-piece specials.

James Dornelly pulled one back for Peterborough before half-time, but Archer found the top corner again with just under an hour played for the Valiants’ third.

Peterborough boss Luke Williams said: “It’s more disappointing in that I don’t think we needed to make fouls because we looked like we were in a pretty good position.

“The first one we make a hash of recovering the ball and then it looks like there are five players around the ball, and instead of making the tackles someone makes a trip instead of taking the ball cleanly.

“They were two really good strikes, of course, but it’s more the overall performance just lacks passion.

“It sounds crazy, but I miss the team, because what I’ve seen recently that’s not it.

“I [previously] saw a team on the pitch that fights for everything and was prepared to leave everything out on the pitch, come off exhausted and winning, and I miss that.

“I can’t seem to have that connection with them because for one reason or another, players are not able to find their top level.”