Oxford United made it four draws in a row as they once again dug in for a point at Vale Park this afternoon.
United enoyed the bulk of the play before the break but had to defend well in the second to stay unbeaten under new boss Liam Manning as they continue to edge their way slowly towards League 1 safety.
A couple of early challenges helped Stephan Negru settle into an accomplished full debut at the heart of a defence that has grown in confidence with each game under the new Manager. United passed the ball around neatly in the first half of a game where chances were a rarity - neither team managed a shot on target before the break and an Ellis Harrison header drifting gently wide on the Burslem breeze was the one occasion that danger threatened.
Vale, with Matty Taylor and Jack Stevens unavailable and watching from the stand, are well aware of the possibility that they could get dragged into the fight that United are already involved in but were gradually pushed back as the excellent Marcus McGuane and Cameron Brannagan began to dominate the centre of the park before the break.
Marcus Browne looked the biggest threat, driving at the home defence from deep and sending a couple of speculative shots well wide of the mark, but it wasn’t until the first minute of the second half that either keeper needed to make a save, Simon Eastwood the heartbreaker as Tom Pett didn’t back down and poked a shot goalwards.
Browne then had United's first try, comfortably held by keeper Aidan Stone, as the game thankfully started to open up. Brannagan had a free kick saved on the hour mark and the intensity rose as the jeopardy of losing one useful point by gambling for three invaluable ones began to dawn on both sides.
It was the home side who pressed first. Captain Tom Conlon came close to breaking the deadlock when his flicked effort clipped the top of the bar after 68 minutes and a flick from the ever-alert Sam Long took a Mal Benning drive over the top a minute later.
It took a superb block from Aaron Donnelly to slide in front of O'Donkor's goalbound piledriver at the other end, but Eastwood was the busier keeper with two more good saves to keep his sixth clean sheet of the season intact.
There was a little bit of everything on 73 when Vale were denied what looked a penalty, Benning's shot was magnificently saved by Eastwood as play was waved on, and then Kyle Joseph got booked for becoming involved in a spot of nothing in particular between Conlon and McGuane.
United might have won it but a crucial touch from a defender took the ball away from Stu Findlay as he prepared to pounce, and then Will Forrester somehow managed to hack a Joseph shot off the line in the very last minute to deny the U's a dramatic first win in 14 attempts.
There was a late red card for sub Dennis Politic when a raised elbow broke the nose of Negru, ref Martin Woods deciding there was no place for Politic in football today, but there wasn't time for the U's to make the most of their advantage.
Indeed, time is now the vital commodity. United's trademark has quickly become commitment and organisation, and it is inching them forward, but with four games at home and just two away, they now face a huge couple of matches when they welcome first Bolton Wanderers and then Portsmouth to the Kassam Stadium.
Still time to turn things around, still time to control their own destiny. Come and get behind them.
Att: 6,662
Away: 975
Report by Chris Williams, pictures Steve Daniels, Steve Edmunds and Darrell Fisher, stats by OPTA