FORMER Newport County AFC captain Mickey Demetriou has warned about the dangers of pyrotechnics at football games after his youngest son was struck by a flare after Crewe’s dramatic equaliser at Port Vale.

The clash between the League Two promotion rivals ended 1-1 on Monday night with Vale extending their lead to four points and the Railwaymen climbing to third.

A stunning volley from 17-year-old Jack Shorrock put the pace-setters ahead early on and despite Rekeem Harper being sent off shortly after the break, it looked as though Darren Moore’s side were going to hang on for maximum points.

However, substitute Jack Lankester equalised in stoppage time to stretch the Railwaymen’s unbeaten league run to eight matches and spark wild scenes.

“The least we deserved, the lads fought to the end!” central defender Demetriou, who is in his second season at Gresty Road, posted on social media.

“Travelling Support was on form as always, just a quick one, I’m all for celebrating in the right way just be cautious with it please!

“The flare landed on my youngest and was terrified at the time but thankfully is all good now.”

Crewe boss Lee Bell felt that it was a missed opportunity for his side despite the late drama.

“The overriding emotion is that we sit in the dressing room again having played against a team that’s slightly above us in the league, and I think this is the third time now, and we’re slightly disappointed that we’ve not won the game,” he said.

“I’m asking the players to really realise the potential they have in that dressing room because once they do realise – the young ones in particular – how good they actually are, I think they’ll be a really good team.

“It was about getting a couple of switches in and getting closer towards their box for something like that (the equaliser) to happen, like it did for Jack.

“But if we had another 10 minutes I think we would have been standing here as winners.”

The result sees Vale extend their lead at the top of the table to four points, with Walsall second and Crewe a further point back in third.

Vale manager Moore viewed it as a point gained, rather than two points dropped.

“As the game wore on as late as it did, you can never say you’ve done enough because it only takes a second to score, and that was the case,” he said.

“Last season, six or seven months ago, there’s no way we come out of that game, so credit to the players.

“I said to them that we’ll learn a lot from that and it’ll stand us in good stead for future games this season.”