The game was preceded by the minute's applause for Bobby Robson, which commenced with Dale fans singing Dale related songs through it. More a case of not realising it had started due to the limited Tannoy facilities. Obviously when I say Tannoy, I mean public address system. Tannoy is a brand name.

We went into the game with three debutants, with the experienced Jason Kennedy and Kenny Arthur making their Dale debut and young Craig Dawson making his professional debut. The teenager was stepping up from level eight on the footballing pyramid to make his first game in the League as he deputised for the injured Rory McArdle.

Vale had former Halifax striker Geoff Horsfield up front alongside former Dale striker Marc Richards. It seems every club in the bottom two divisions has a former Dale striker these days which is odd because I don't recall that many actually playing for us. There'd been concerns that such an experienced forward line up would take advantage of our fledgling defender, but I think after about 2 minutes, people forgot Dawson was anything other than an established first team player.

The first half had the home side kicking towards us in the horribly named Phones4U stand. It was a half that we edged, with the better chances. We didn't make the greatest of starts, but as the half grew on, we were in the ascendancy.

The home side offered little. Little is an exaggeration actually. They offered nothing and it's a struggle to think whether they actually had a shot of any kind for most of the half.

Joe Thompson was the closest to breaking the deadlock between the two sides. He had a header cleared of the line as he tried to finish off a Will Buckley corner. It was further proof that Dale were starting to dominate.

At the back we looked very solid, and we seemed to have an answer to every question thrown our way by the Potteries club.

There was plenty of good football from ourselves, as we pressed and pressed. As has been an issue in the past, we got into good areas without forcing a save out of the keeper. That changed suddenly, as Martin between the Vale sticks produced a full length TV save to keep out a Chris Dagnall shot.

But if the closing stages of the first half indicated our strengths, the second half showed our ability to step things up, and it was wonderful stuff.

Aside from the first minute or so, Dale went on to have one of best spells of possession that we've seen at the club in recent years. The home side couldn't have had successive touches of the ball for around fifteen minutes as they found Dale camped in their half.

What was great to see for me was the Dale side working hard as a team. Of course, mistakes got made, and the ball was given way, but the collective effort always ensured that we would regain possession at the earliest opportunity. I'd go a far to say that this was the first time that we'd dominated in such a way since David Perkins left the club.

Chris Dagnall came closest to scoring during this period. He went on a great mazy run, which you felt might have seen him dribble it past the keeper as he kept on going and going. Unfortunately, by the time he put himself in a position to shoot, he couldn't get any power behind his shot with a pressing defender on his case, and his shot was scooped up by the Vale keeper with ease. There had been some calls for a penalty from the away end, but the challenge came in after he'd finished.

I'll admit to a brief concern that for all this wonderful possession and football that we were witnessing, there'd been little converting it into real chances. We'd had a succession of corners which didn't really threaten, and the home side started to get back into the game and it appeared that we may have left them off the hook.

So it was with great pleasure that we took the lead. For all that possession camped in their half, it was from a breakaway that we took the lead. We went charging down the left hand side of the pitch in front of the Shay like stand, and a perfect cross from Will Buckley went heading towards the back post. If the cross was perfect, then Thompson's reading of it was even better.

He entered the box with a marker, but by the time the cross was at the back post, he'd turned it into a free header by just holding back, and he'd made it into a relatively simple chance to nod it into the back of the net. Great stuff from the boy JT and his delight was there for all to see as he celebrated on the wall in front of the travelling fans with his arms spread wide.

Unfortunately, that goal sparked a bit of life into the home side. They made a change bringing on yet another former Dale striker in Louis Dodds. They're everywhere these days. But it allowed a change in formation for the home side, but perhaps more importantly some urgency which hadn't been there up until now.

They were under the impression that they were back on level terms almost immediately. A corner came in, but Kenny Arthur got crunched between two aerial challenges, and was left in a heap on the floor, allowing the simplest of tap ins. It looked probably the right decision and consistent with the way keepers are "over protected" these days.

If that decision went in our favour, then one went against us soon after. Kennedy and Rundle failed to challenge the Vale winger, allowing him to cross unopposed into the box. His cross was whipped in and hit Stanton and the linesman immediately signalled for a penalty.

An extremely harsh decision in my book, and had it not been given, it would probably not have been mentioned by anyway, such was the strength of the appeal but perhaps we'd benefitted from a couple of handballs in the first half which could have gone against us.

Richard stepped up, scored his spot kick by placing into the bottom corner to open things up for the last quarter an hour of the game.

At this stage, memories of last season came flooding back where we left Vale Park with nothing to show for our efforts, and if anything, the Valiants were the more likely to grab a winner at this stage than we were. Not that we were under the cosh, but Vale all of a sudden looked like a side unshackled.

We had chances too, and we had a couple of moves which almost came off for us, but that final ball couldn't get across, and we were left to wonder what might have been as the game played itself out for the entertaining draw that it was.

Conversations on the way out of the ground amongst Dale supporters indicated that this had been a case of two points dropped, but there was much to be encouraged from. Equally, it was felt by many that on the basis of this display, Port Vale will be in for a long, hard season. Surprisingly, on local radio after the Vale supporters were full of praise for their own side, citing how improved things were on the previous season.

What also shone through was the level of respect that exists within the game for Dale. Many a time, we'd have heard home supporters lamenting their side's inability to beat little old Rochdale. Vale manager Micky Adams admitted that there was a gulf between the sides, and it was claimed that there wouldn't be a better side to visit Vale Park all season than ourselves. Let's hope so.

There were numerous positives to take from the game. Like some heartfelt Oscars acceptance speech, I'm bound to have missed some out but at the top of my head in no particular order:

• The form of Joey Thompson, who was outstanding throughout, good value for his goal, and a very deserving man of the match for me. He looked stronger, more confident, and played with a vision making things happen rather than reacting to what happened
• Our central defensive pairing. You'd have never known that Craig Dawson was making his professional debut, especially against such an experienced opposition forward line. Praise to for Stanton. Stanton played like he was conscious of his senior role at the back and thrived upon it.
• Jason Kennedy. Having not seen the pre-season games, it seemed one or two had questioned him during pre-season and I had a nagging doubt that our vision of him was spoilt due to the outstanding goals he's scored against us. No fear, he had in my opinion a brilliant game and looks to be a fantastic acquisition by the club.
• The optimism. It's no secret to suggest that the mood amongst the Dale support isn't as optimistic as it could be, or perhaps as it should be. Having dominated the game to the extent that we did, I'd imagine every Dale supporter left the ground more confident than they were when they entered the ground.