Port Vale manager Andy Crosby said his side only had themselves to blame for missing out on three points in the 1-1 draw at Rochdale.

Vale were on course for victory, with Ben Garrity’s first-half header separating the sides and the home team having failed to test Valiants goalkeeper Tomas Holy all game.

But James Ball fired home a 93rd-minute leveller with Dale’s first effort of the match.

“We walked away from Tranmere on Saturday with a well-earned point and sometimes those draws feel like a win and the bounce it gives the dressing room is immense,” said Crosby.

“We walk away from tonight’s game with totally different emotion and we only have ourselves to blame for that.

“We deserved what we got because we didn’t deal with the one moment they had in the entire game. Our goalie didn’t have a save to make.

“It’s about turning draws into wins because we are chasing. We have games in hand but when you have those games in hand you have to take advantage of them. I was really pleased with lots of aspects of our performance, but ultimately it comes down to getting three points if you want to achieve something special come the end of the season.

“We were totally in charge of the game, totally bossed it both with the ball and without it and they had no threat throughout the game. We’ve had chances to take the game away from them but you can never switch off and take for granted you’ve got the three points until the referee blows the final whistle.”

Vale edged ahead in the final minute of a poor first half, Garrity meeting Chris Hussey’s corner with an unchallenged header from six yards.

After the break Dale struggled to mount any kind of comeback and the visitors looked the more likely to score the game’s second goal. Joel Cooper and David Worrall saw shots saved by Jay Lynch while James Wilson pulled a good chance wide in time added on.

They paid for that miss when a goal kick from Lynch was touched on by Tahvon Campbell and Ball fired home in the 93rd minute.

Dale boss Robbie Stockdale admitted: “It wasn’t pretty.

“Port Vale are a good team, I like them. They have some really good experience across the pitch and some real physicality as well and if truth be told they were the better team on the night.

“We have probably nicked a point when we didn’t deserve it, but saying that we’ve drawn lots of games that we should have won.

“If you win your individual battles and you get seven or eight players doing that it gives you a really good chance to win the game – we didn’t on the night, Port Vale did and they will feel very aggrieved that they didn’t get the three points.”