Vale's away fixture at Broughton Park was postponed because of a rock hard playing surface at Hough End so their next scheduled game was at Moorgate Avenue home of Rochdale; see the Co-op, spot the Deasey brothers, hear Gracie singing. At the end of this top of the table face off, Vale collected their divvy following a 25-10 victory and as cold wind swirled around the nearby Pennines an unmistakable ghostly voice could be heard by some, sending Vale on their way:
“Sing as we go, and let the world go by
Singing a song as we march along the highway.”

The week's rest following the calling off of the Broughton Park fixture did not appear to affect Vale as much as Rochdale who had not seen any action since December 21 when the drew at Altrincham Kersal, 21-21. As the programme writer rather prothetically noted, “Rochdale will regret three weeks of inaction.” Unfortunately their lack on intense competition bubbled to the surface as they suffered not only their second defeat of the season but they slipped into third place behind Stockport who won at home against Aspull; but for Vale it was sweet revenge for the defeat they suffered back in October.

During the week Ian Brookes pulled a fetlock in training which meant that Andy Higgin was on from the beginning and making his first fifteen start since September 2000 and his first appearance on Rochdale territory since November 1998 in NPI cup tie. On that occasion Vale won, 19-13, with Andy converting Malcolm Fowler's try and kicking four penalty goals.

Fast forwarding to 2003 Andy did not feature on the score sheet although he was unlucky with a long range penalty attempt in the dying minute. Points on the day might have eluded him but he was rock solid in defence, his kicking out of hand was accurate to the last centimetre and when Rochdale mounted a late rally he, and his old comrade in arms, Steve Swarbrick, drove Rochdale back with some withering kicks. Andy remained composed throughout and his coolness filtered through to those around him; overall his selection was an inspired decision.

In front of a large crowd and with the playing surface in good order, Vale's pack called all the shots from the opening exchanges, at no stage did they allow the Rochdale eight to get their feet under the table as they did in the previous meeting.

Two early scrums sent Rochdale reeling backwards, “Don't mess with us,” was the clear message from Vale's eight, but Dale's threequarters had some of the devil about therm and were capable of testing Vale's defensive network if given time and space.

The game remained evenly balanced until the final minutes as one would expect from two sides battling it out at the top end, before the Vale bulldozer went to work, in fact the blade was hardly lifted throughout. Rochdale were sent skimming over their goal line in disarray, a penalty try beckoned but referee Taylorson thought other wise.

However, a couple of minutes later he had no hesitation to race between the uprights with an arm raised accompanied by a shrill blast on his whistle after Ian Bird had been cynically chopped down as he chased a kick ahead; Jimmy Moore added the conversion as one required to do in those days before the law changed.

An early Rochdale second half penalty goal was followed by Vale's second converted try in the forty seventh minute. Rob Myler made the initial stylish break, James Bryan, whose overall's skills had improved game on game, powered his way through tackles before sending Jimmy Moore on his way for a try between the posts which he converted.

Vale poked and prodded away at Rochdale's defence and under mounting pressure they gave away two penalties which Jimmy Moore kicked in the seventieth an seventy second minutes. If Vale imagined they were home and dry they had their collar's felt in the seventy fifth minute when Rochdale also gave their tie a twist for good measure with a converted try to set up a vigorous closing minutes as both sets of players did their upmost to combat the falling thermometer with some enterprising passages of hand warming rugby.

Jimmy Moore hobbled onto the wing with cramp but when he received the ball after Ian Bird and Rob Myler had exchanged passes close to his recovery area he threw the Ralgex away and shot down the touchline with all the acceleration of the electric hare at the dog track, for an unconverted try.

Although none of their number attached their names to the score sheet all the forwards made a colossal contribution to the win, they were at their domineering best and laid the foundations with due diligence; to their credit the backs fully appreciated their labours and were in no way wasteful in using the ball they worked their expertise with.

After the victory at Moorgate, Vale's Aspidistra was growing in size, its roots were going deep, but it still required feeding and watering if it was
to be centre stage at the party.

In some ways the Rubicon had been crossed at Rochdale, only time would tell, but it was pretty obvious if the prize was to be claimed then the push must continue; the steady beat found in the Radetzky March needed to be maintained to keep everyone moving forward.

Logistically Vale were well resourced, confidence was high, but if injuries, unavailability and other gremlins should emerge out of the woodwork then everything could grind to a halt. After all there were still seven fixtures to fulfil and anyone of their opponents would relish taking them down a peg or three.

Form they say is temporary, class is permanent. Vale found themselves in a rich vein of form, while some of their players oozed class and glittered like jewels set in a tiara. Shirley Bassey, another world wide warbler, gave it all when she sang “Diamonds Are Forever,” Vale had unearthed some gems, but questions being asked of them were along the lines of, “would their sparkle last?”