Devante Cole bags brace as Port Vale punish lowly Maldon and Tiptree

Port Vale survived an early scare to claim a 5-1 win over eighth-tier Maldon and Tiptree and book their place in the second round of the FA Cup.

The visitors, who were the lowest-ranked team to reach the first round, took a shock lead in the sixth minute through Anisius Lewis and held it until the quarter-hour mark when Ruari Paton bagged the first of his two goals for Vale.

George Hall put the hosts ahead moments later and they were 4-1 up by the 24th minute, with Paton finding the net again and Devante Cole getting his name on the scoresheet.

Cole’s second-half goal added extra gloss to the scoreline as the Valiants ensured they will be in the hat for Monday’s second-round draw.

It looked as though there could be a major upset on the cards when a completely unmarked Lewis volleyed home from Cameron James’ cross to give the Jammers an unexpected early advantage.

But the home side’s quality soon showed and they got themselves back on level terms courtesy of Paton’s excellent strike into the bottom corner from outside the box.

Hall volleyed in at the back post from Cole’s delivery to make it 2-1 to Vale before Paton scored his second goal with a cool close-range finish after controlling Connor Hall’s cross.

Cole then got himself in on the act, smashing the ball into the roof of the net after receiving a pullback from George Hall.

And the striker’s backheel completed the scoring in the 56th minute after George Byers had headed Paton’s corner goalwards.