Checkatrade Trophy: Walsall 1 Port Vale 2 - Report and pictures

Both teams entered the Northern Group E tie having already cemented their place in the last 32 after winning their opening two matches,

But it was Vale who topped the group and grabbed the £10,000 prize money after they grabbed the points at the Banks’s Stadium.

Scott Quigley put the visitors in front after just five minutes with his strike cancelled out by Connor Johnson in first-half stoppage time.

But Wolves loanee Johnson was then sent off for a second yellow card shortly after the re-start.

And with a man advantage, substitute Danny Pugh netted a winner for Neil Aspin’s side.

The result means Walsall will face either Shrewsbury, Accrington, Rochdale or Sunderland away from home in the second round.

Keates opted to ring the changes when naming his starting line-up with only three players keeping their place following the FA Cup victory over Coventry.

Luke Leahy, Zeli Ismail and Josh Gordon were the men tasked with playing two games in the space of four days.

But while the personnel was largely different, Keates still named a strong side with Jack Fitzwater and Morgan Ferrier both in from the start after recovering from injury.

It meant the Saddlers continued in a 4-4-2 formation with Gordon and Ferrer up front while Ismail started on the right of midfield and Kieron Morris, who skippered the side, on the left.

Port Vale, who also made eight changes from the weekend, lined up in a 4-3-3 system with Idris Kanu and Louis Dodds either side of Quigley in attack.

It was the visitors who made a flying start to the match with Neil Aspin’s side taking the lead after just five minutes.

The goal arrived after Kanu sent in a cross from the right.

But it was goalscorer Quigley who deserved all the credit with the Blackpool loanee brilliantly planting a header into the corner of the net from 12-yards.

Keates had opted to watch the clash from a higher vantage point with assistant manager Andy Davies and player-coach Russell Martin issuing instructions from the dugout.

And as the clock ticked past the 20 minute mark, it was Walsall who were dominating possession, albeit without creating clear goal scoring opportunities

In contrast, Vale were looking dangerous when they did go forward.

And they thought that had grabbed a second midway through the half when Dodds’ shot from 25-yards was parried by Chris Dunn.

Quigley - who played under Keates at Wrexham - was the man who reacted quickest with the striker tapping in from close range only to then see the linesman raise his flag for offside.

Walsall weren’t getting Ferrier and Gordon on the ball enough with youngster Sam Hornby untested in the visitors goal.

They came close to pulling a goal back when Ismail played Ferrier through one-on-one.

But the striker was prevented from getting his shot away by a brilliant recovery challenge from Connell Rawlinson.

On the stroke of half-time though, Walsall did get themselves back on terms.

After Ismail won a free-kick on the right, Leahy whipped in the resultant set-piece. And after a bit of a scramble,Johnson emphatically fired in from close range.

The Saddlers made a change at the break with Nicky Devlin replacing Leahy in a move that saw Kane Wilson switch from right-back to left-back.

But just five minutes later they were reduced to 10-men with Johnson given his marching orders.

After a hopeful ball forward, the Wolves loanee should have simply tapped the ball back to his keeper.

But he dallied and that allowed Quigley to steal possession with Johnson then hauling him to the floor.

It could have been a straight red. But with Johnson already having been booked, referee Christopher Sarginson awarded a second yellow.

A man down, Keates - who was now in the dugout - opted to switch Liam Kinsella for Ismail.

It meant the Saddlers switched to a 4-3-2 system with Devlin at centre-back and Morris at left-back.

Walsall had coped well being a man down.

But they fell behind again in the 65th minute when Wilson failed to deal with a long ball forward.

The Albion loanee looked set to make a simple clearance but instead let the ball go under his foot.

And that allowed Vale to enter the box with substitute Pugh then firing a low drive past Dunn and into the net.

Walsall switched Gordon for Dylan Parker with 15 minutes remaining.

And just moments later the striker was just inches away from latching onto an Alfie Bates through-ball only to be denied by the keeper.

The visitors introduced Nelson Agho for Kanu in the closing stages - with the 15-year-old becoming the youngest ever player to appear in Vale’s first team.

But neither team looked like scoring from that point with Vale doing enough to grab the points.

Walsall: Dunn, Leahy (Devlin 46), Fitzwater, Johnson, Wilson, Morris, Ronan, Bates, Ismail, Ferrier, Gordon (Parker 75).

Subs not used: Roberts, Guthrie, Cook, McSkeane.

Port Vale: Hornby, Gibbons, Montano, Kay (Daniels 66), Rawlinson, Quigley, Kanu (Agho 84), Dodds, Vassell, Conlon (Pugh 46), Hardcastle.

Subs not used: Brown, Clark.