Cardiff City eked out a 0‑0 draw at Vale Park last night, with Brian Barry‑Murphy calling it a “lucky” point as Port Vale dominated large swathes of the game.

The stalemate, which keeps Cardiff undefeated to start the season, saw the home side spurn several close-range chances, most notably a disallowed goal from Mitch Clark that would have changed the narrative entirely.

Barry‑Murphy cut to the chase in his post-match analysis: “We’ll definitely take the clean sheet and the point. There were parts of the performance we’d like to be better, especially in front of an incredible travelling support.”

In his typically honest appraisal, Cardiff’s head coach added: “We’ve got no complaints. I thought we were lucky to get a point based on how well Port Vale played and elements of our performance need to be better.

“Our positioning was wrong, we were rushed… and our composure in wide areas was not great. That’s not just the wide players, that’s the whole team. The final ball, the final shot wasn’t at a high enough level.”

Darren Moore’s side moved with purpose from the first whistle, controlling much of the opening half with intent. Jesse Debrah threatened twice from set-pieces, once blocked and once sailing just wide.

Nathan Trott, making his Cardiff debut, was alert particularly when Calum Chambers nearly turned a clearance into his own net, only for the new signing to make a timely stop.

Vale’s second-half resurgence seemed about to breakthrough when Mitch Clark bundled the ball home, only for the offside flag to rub out the effort. Later, George Byers rattled the bar.

Cardiff ultimately rode their luck and escaped from their first League One away day with a valuable point.

With the draw sending Cardiff to the top of the fledgling League One table, Barry‑Murphy’s side will reflect on this performance before the next fixture. Meanwhile, Port Vale will feel hard done by, having controlled and created more but returned empty-handed yet again.

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