One game, two competitions as Vale of Lune beat Burnage

MATCH REPORT: Vale of Lune 34 - 24 Burnage

The sun, cloud and seasonal chill of this home fixture added to the occasion. Vale had been drawn in the semi-final of the Lancashire Cup against NW2 league rivals Burnage. So it was a case of one game, two competitions.

An introductory phase of testing each other's defensive mettle ended when centre Jamie Mayall made space to put Ryan Busby in to dart for the line. Busby cut infield and got within a hair's breadth before the Burnage defence brought him down. Vale's forwards steamed in and second row Joe Crompton finished the move, with Mayall adding the extra two points.

Mayall added a penalty kick to extend the lead. Changes ensued with George Oyston keeping up the power output, and Kurt Gledhill reinforcing the backline . A break by Burnage led to a chip-and-chase attempt, snuffed out by the quick actions of Gledhill.

He took off like a hawk through a forest, passing wide to Dan Leighton on the wing who burned off all comers to set up Harry Fellows to score. Leighton had been caught awkwardly in the final tackle and had to retire. Alex Briggs came on to replace him.

The Manchester men regrouped and made the best use of their forwards in midfield. Ten minutes of dogged bombardment was absorbed by the Vale, before Burnage notched up their first points of the game. The half time score was 17 - 5 to the Vale.

Soon after the restart, the Vale regained the forward impetus. Ten metres out, a ruck gave Billy Swarbrick the chance to break. He passed to flanker Jack Ayrton, who wove a thread between the defenders to add a third.

Burnage got within fifteen metres of the Vale line. Appeals from the terrace for a penalty went unheard, and Burnage played to the whistle. Their second try went unconverted but a comeback was a real possibility.

Mayall soon scored a second penalty kick, but Burnage were not beaten. A gap in the spine of the pitch was exploited for a try under the posts. As Burnage had done in the first half, Vale applied prolonged pressure without any points to show for it. The tension was cranked up when the Burnage scrum half grubbed the ball into space for his centre to pick up and score.

Eight minutes remained, with only three points between them. Vale claimed the ball and drove countless phases into the danger zone. Time after time, their efforts were stalled, but still they pressed on. The bundle of limbs and torsos that finally got through contained Joe Crompton, who claimed his second try of the afternoon.

Mayall made it six out of six place kicks, and along with double try scorer Crompton was nominated as joint man-of-the-match.

Five league points for Vale and a bonus point for Burnage for scoring four tries was the league result. However, this match had another angle. The Vale are through to a Lancashire Cup final later in the season.

Meanwhile, a free week follows before the Vale head off to Douglas to resume the NW2 league campaign, All kick offs from November to February will be at 2.15pm.

Team: A. Fowler, H. Dokter, M. Bradshaw, J. Crompton, H. Fellows, J. Sutcliffe, M. Goodman, J. Ayrton (c), B. Swarbrick, H. Finan, J. McFarlane, A. Bolton, J. Mayall, D. Leighton, R. Busby. Reps: A. Briggs, G. Oyston. K. Gledhill.

Here are some more action photos from the game. Images by Tony North.

Vale's Billy Swarbrick clears

Harry Finan sets up the move

Jamie Mayall ready for action

 Mark Goodman in action

Billy Swarbrick wins the ruck