Vale of Lune's winning streak goes on

MATCH REPORT: Vale of Lune 38 - 0 Winnington Park – Regional 2 North West

After 'monsoon' week, it was touch and go whether this NW2 match could proceed.

Once deemed playable, the Vale came to the pitch with back to back wins, but Winnington Park had enjoyed five straight wins, so one of them was going to be disappointed. Order was kept by referee Damian Hamilton.

The rain had paused to allow the game to start, but the wet ball was soon fumbled by the visitors from Cheshire. Testing long kicks put Winnington under pressure and the first yellow card for impeding a driving maul came after four minutes. The resultant numerical advantage helped the Vale pack drive over for Sam Wallbank to mark his 300th 1st XV appearance with a try to rouse the crowd.

Vale claimed the ball for long spells with modest gains, until Ryan Busby flew toward the Winnington line, shifting play to where the Vale wanted it to be. A passing move from right to left saw Damon Hall feign a wide pass only to jink through tackles to score under the posts. Hall followed this with another sprint to chase a grubber kick to score to the left of the posts.

Winnington Park were restored to fifteen men but not for long. A second offender was dispatched for ten minutes for indiscipline. Nevertheless, they dug deep and applied some control, working hard to move the action to the Vale try line.

Dogged Vale defending and a ball which was hard to hold on to, gave Captain Jack Ayrton a chance to claim it and make a break. He produced a forty metre dash and launched a long kick to the left sideline, turning defence into attack.

The Vale's lineout set up a driving maul, finished in style by second row Harry Fellows. Half time came with the score at 24 - 0.

The restart was met with heavy rain, bending umbrellas on the terrace and threatening visibility on the pitch. Mr Hamilton kept focussed and the match continued. Flanker Eddie Abdelghafar claimed the ball in midfield and struck out for the line. Sheer guts got him over, despite two defenders clinging on.

The final addition to Big Les' rain-drenched scoreboard came from Hall, completing his hattrick with a 'steam train' run on the right flank to beat the Winnington defenders to the waiting ball.

The Vale were clearly enjoying the occasion. A big lead and shocking weather made no difference to their output. Ayrton made another 40 metre carry to thwart a consolation try for Winnington Park.

There were many impressive individual performances, but Man-of-the-Match was awarded to scrum half Billy Swarbrick, whose distribution and defensive tackling was exceptional.

This win lifts the Vale to third in the NW2 table. They intend to stretch this run further next Saturday when they take on Widnes RUFC at Powder House Lane. Kick off at 2.15pm.

Team: R. Pillow, H. Dokter, M. Bradshaw, H. Fellows (c), J. Sutcliffe, E. Abdelghafar, S. Wallbank, J. Ayrton (c), B. Swarbrick, K. Gledhill, J. McFarlane, A. Bolton, D. Hall, D. Leighton, R. Busby. Reps: J. Crompton, A. Briggs, S. Walton.

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

Vale's Damon Hall kicks for touch

Harry Fellows wins the ball

Vale of Lune under pressure

Billy Swarbrick clears

Kurt Gledhill sets up the move