A Luke Prosser own goal saw ten-man Exeter City beat Port Vale 1-0 and move up to fifth in League Two.
Prosser own goal sees Grecians move to fifth
Ten-man Exeter City moved up to fifth place in League Two after a dogged 1-0 victory over Port Vale at St James Park.
Defender Danny Seaborne received his marching orders just 21 minutes into the game after picking up two stupid bookings, but the Grecians went on to win when Luke Prosser put through his own goal to keep the Devon side's promotion challenge firmly on track.
Seaborne, who was stripped of the Exeter captaincy earlier in the season, picked up his first booking for a reckless lunge on Vale's Scott Brown.
His second came when he booted the ball high into the stand after the referee had blown for a free-kick against Dean Moxey.
But the breakthrough came after 29 minutes - and it was down to Vale's own doing.
Stuart Fleetwood found Adam Stansfield out wide and his cross was headed goalwards by Marcus Stewart where Vale defender Prosser, standing on the line, could only divert the ball into his own net.
The Grecians continued to dominate and could have added to their tally. Fleetwood twice saw shots blocked, while Moxey's free-kick hit the Vale wall after Fleetwood had been fouled 30 yards from goal.
The home side dominated the second half and Stewart was denied by Chris Martin, although Vale's Paul Edwards thumped the post from 30 yards after a corner found its way to him.
As the game wore on, Vale ran out of ideas and it was Exeter who came closest to scoring. The hard working Stansfield tried his luck from distance, but Martin acrobatically tipped the ball over the bar.
