Nordic gods lost in Potteries derby

All the relevant action in the first Potteries derby for three seasons was crammed into five hectic minutes in the first half.

Marc Bridge-Wilkinson raised home supporters' expectations when he headed in Matt Carragher's cross after 10 minutes. But five minutes later parity was restored when Kyle Lightbourne fired home the equaliser, though Stoke claimed a moral victory after Lightbourne and Marvin Robinson both hit the underside of the bar with headers in the second half.

It was bad luck for the City boss Gudjon Thordarson, who was denied a victory in his first English derby. The former national coach of Iceland, who took over last season, felt his side deserved to win.

According to Scandinavian superstition, Sunday should be a lucky day but on this occasion the Nordic gods failed to smile on Thordarson and he was left to wonder what he had done to upset them.

"It was nice to get a point but we should have had all three," he said. "They never outplayed us and we created the better chances. We needed that bit of luck in the second half and perhaps Robinson should have put his header away. But I always knew this was going to be a difficult game for us."

While admitting to being slightly disappointed with his players, Thordarson reserved all his venom for the referee William Burns. The Scarborough official showed Tony Naylor a yellow card after he appeared to raise his arm at Brynjar Gunnarsson.

"That was a red card offence," said Thordarson, "and the player should have gone off. We have to play from the same rule book and we can't tolerate things like that in the game. We are being asked to instil discipline into our teams and I'm trying to do that with my players. But referees are not consistent."

Stoke, after their slow start, were the better side but still needed Nicky Mohan to clear off the line from Dave Brammer in the second half.

Vale's manager Brian Horton said: "The fans will be happy with a draw; no one goes home disappointed. Bridge-Wilkinson was the pick of our players. He took his goal well and is going to be a very good player."

The game attracted the lowest ever Potteries derby attendance of 8,948 after police refused Stoke's request for more tickets.