Peterborough 1-3 Port Vale
Thursday 16 April 2026 23:03, UK
Port Vale live to fight another day in Sky Bet League One after Ethon Archer scored two stunning free-kicks in their 3-1 win at fellow strugglers Peterborough.
The Valiants, who made eight changes from their goalless draw with Barnsley, were ahead after just three minutes when Ryan Croasdale struck with a low drive from Onel Hernandez's pass.
Archer then sensationally doubled the Valiants' lead in the 16th minute with a free-kick from 25 yards that flew into the top corner.
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Peterborough were back in the game after 31 minutes when James Dornelly made the most of slack marking to sweep in Matthew Garbett's corner.
However, Vale restored their two-goal cushion in the 59th minute when Archer repeated his earlier trick with another wonderful dead-ball strike that left Peterborough goalkeeper Alex Bass grasping at air.
Despite the win, the third-from-bottom Valiants are still 12 points adrift of safety, with their survival hopes extremely slim, while the Posh stay four points ahead of the drop zone with four games of their season remaining.
Practice makes perfect after Archer stunner
Port Vale boss Jon Brady:
"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."
'I miss my team - this is not them'
Peterborough boss Luke Williams:
"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."
