Peterborough United defender on surviving a ferocious start and on sending the fans home happy

Posh boss Luke Williams had warned his side that rock-bottom Port Vale always start fast, but the ferocity of the home side in the opening 20 minutes still came as a surprise.

Dornelly played at right-back in a back four which also featured a change at left-back as on-loan Jacob Mendy replaced injury victim Harley Mills at left back.

It was just a third League One start of the season for Dornelly and the first since August. He stood in for captain Peter Kioso who was serving a one-match ban. Posh won the game with a late goal from top scorer Harry Leonard.

Dornelly – a 20 year-old Posh Academy graduate – was prominent in the Posh celebrations after Leonard’s goal and at the end of the match.

"It was a scrappy game to begin with,” Dornelly told the Posh Plus service. “The manager had told us they tended to start fast, but I don’t think we fully realised just how fast! We just tried to get our defensive line right and we figured it all out in the end and managed to get our game going.

"Ultimately our quality showed through and I was always confident once we got going we would score and then see the game out. I didn’t really see our goal properly. I saw the ball drop to Harry’s feet and then it just seemed to trickle into the net. We kept control of the ball after the goal which killed their momentum. We managed the game really well after scoring.

"I was happy with my performance and that of the team. I wanted to give a good performance and the clean sheet and the win just made it better. I felt myself and Matt Garbett were on the same wavelength. As a midfielder Matt likes to drift inside which left the channel open for me.

"It was a good day and I was pleased the fans could go home happy. I couldn’t fault them. I heard them all game and we thank them for coming out on the Saturday before Christmas.”