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Port Vale 1-0 Bristol City: Ben Waine’s extra-time winner set up a fifth-round clash with Premier League Sunderland on Sunday
Sports Staff Tuesday 03 March 2026 23:21 GMT- Bookmark
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Ben Waine celebrates his extra-time winner (Getty Images)
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Ben Waine earned League One Port Vale an FA Cup fifth-round visit from Premier League Sunderland on Sunday after shocking Championship Bristol City 1-0 with a 112th-minute extra-time winner.
After a series of near-misses the 24-year-old New Zealand international deservedly found the target, running onto Andre Gray's pass and scoring from a tight angle.
It was nothing more than Waine and the division's bottom side deserved.
Waine had already been denied earlier in extra time when defender Cameron Pring cleared off the line.
And he was frustrated in the first half of normal time as his close-range effort was smothered by Joe Lumley while two further headers flashed wide.
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A total of 38 places separate the sides in the EFL but City had to wait until the second half of extra time to force Joe Gauci into a meaningful save from substitute Tomi Horvat's 20-yard free-kick.
Vale's victory was their first in 10 meetings with their Ashton Gate visitors. And it also completed a Bristol double having accounted for Bristol Rovers in round two.
More than 1,600 City fans watched their side's exit and chants of 'this is embarrassing' and 'sack the board' rang out from the away end.
In contrast, Vale fans at last had something to cheer after a season that sees them 10 points from safety in the game's third tier.
But this was a fourth match unbeaten for Jon Brady's team as they look for an end-of-season miracle to avoid the drop.
City, with eight changes from their previous Championship game, dominated possession but could not stamp any authority on their battling hosts.
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