At around 4.30 pm on Saturday, April 14, in the final home game against Northwich, Powderhouse Lane erupted into an ear splitting wall of sound, a vibrant exclamation mark on what had been an incredible season, when North One West League Secretary, Ken Potter, handed over the trophy to Sam Wallbank, a ceremony that confirmed the Vale of Lune as champions even though the season had not run its full course.
On a warm, sunny day, a large crowd saw the Vale complete their first ever double over Northwich with a 57-22 victory in what had been an extraordinary season that began in September with a home win against Burnage, 58-17, on Ladies Day, with the spectators being entertained by a thrilling parachute display from the Black Nights before kick-off.
While the sky divers fell to earth like multi-coloured butterflies the Vale were metaphorically setting off in the opposite direction, “per ardua ad astra,” and at the final whistle they were on top of the table, a position they held throughout the season. Pegasus had been put between the shafts and Vale’s chariot of fire was unleashed from its stable.
Sam Wallbank, who took over the captaincy at the beginning of October when Dan Baines was sidelined with a long term injury, scored the first try of the campaign. Damon Hall, who else, began his assault on the club’s try and point scoring records with a hat trick of tries, five conversions of his side’s nine tries, one of which was scored by the influential Evan Stewart on his debut, and a penalty goal.
In the 31-10 victory at Blackburn, lock Dan Rainford scored his first ever try at first team level and the Vale were awarded their first penalty try of the season, which under new laws did not require a conversion as seven points were automatically added to the total. Ten tries were registered against Manchester in a 66-12 home win, eight being converted by Damon Hall.
Carlisle returned to the league after topping Lancashire/Cumbria but were unable to halt Vale’s bandwagon, going down 41-18 at their rebuilt Warwick Road base in a fixture where Damon Hall collected his second hat trick of the season. In the home victory, 60-12, against Altrincham and Kersal “Demon” Damon ran in six tries and converted six of the nine tries at the end of a month in which the Vale had scored 256 points from their five games.
Skipper Sam Wallbank celebrated his 200th appearance by helping to pilot his side to a 15-13 victory at Firwood Waterloo, with Olly Jacques scoring a try against his former club. In heavy rain the Vale silenced those doubters who had questioned their ability to adapt in adverse conditions and to come from behind in a game. At the final whistle the Vale had answered these questions in the affirmative in addition to recording only their third ever victory at Blundellsands.
North One West fixtures were put on hold for a week because of RFU National Cup competitions but the break did not affect the Vale because they gave Wilmslow the run around with a 41-17 win at The Lane with Damon Hall hat tricking again. October ended with the away game at St Benedicts being postponed because of a waterlogged pitch, but the Vale had something to celebrate because they were named team of the month by the prestigious magazine, “Rugby World.”
Stockport were the visitors for the opening game in November, and suffered a 53-17 defeat. Out of Vale’s eight tries, six were scored by the forwards to add to Damon Hall’s brace.
A week later the eight game unbeaten run came to a juddering halt at home against a well organised Douglas side, who on their first visit, pressed all the right buttons and on the day deserved their victory. Without detracting from Douglas’s monumental achievement it must be recognised that six of Vale’s luminaries who had featured against Stockport were missing for a variety of reasons.
The Vale had plenty of time to dwell on their loss because all their fixtures for the remainder of November were postponed at St Benedicts and Rochdale so when their next opponents, Warrington, arrived at The Lane on December 2 the Vale were lean, mean and hungry.
Vale had the “Wires” twanging in a 87-20 victory, this was the first time they had burst through the eighties barrier since November, 2014 when they won at home against Wigton, 81-12. High stepping Vale racked up 13 tries including four from Damon Hall, who also kicked 11 conversions, and three tries from Fergus Owens.
The calendar year drew to a close with yet another postponed game this time over at Northwich and abandoned home game against Blackburn. A Blackburn player was injured early in the second half but happily winger Sonny Williamson made a full recovery; when referee Bundy called a halt to proceedings the Vale were leading, 27-10.
In 2017 the Vale had won 17 of the 22 games played and at the start of the New Year the Vale were being widely tipped for promotion, although this subject was strictly taboo in the environs of Powderhouse Lane. The Vale achieved their first double of the season against a determined Manchester side, 33-19, to keep the pundits happy and Jack Turton, who was making his 50th appearance.
Eight tries were scored against Carlisle, six converted by Damon Hall in a 52-10 win to further enhance their favourite’s credentials. A week later the half century mark was again reached at Altrincham Kersal but the 50-12 victory was achieved without their gifted point’s scorer, Damon Hall, who had suffered a broken jaw in a training ground accident; he did not return to the front line until March 10 over in Douglas.
Picking up the baton, or rather the kicking tee, at Stelfox Avenue was Ben Dorrington, who put over four conversions of the eight tries scored which included Olly Jacques’s first hat trick of the season, Chris Ramwell was responsible for the other two pointer in what was Ross Pillow’s 100th game; Ross must be one of the most underrated front rowers in the league, a dynamic, technically correct, mighty mouse.
January ended with a hardnosed encounter against Firwood Waterloo, where, in a 20-14 win Vale’s defensive qualities and ability to dig deep were fully tested in an x rated encounter. Evan Stewart was shown a red card and at one stage the Vale were down to thirteen players. Olly Jacques again reminded his old club what they were missing by converting both tries, one of which he scored, and kicking two penalty goals; Chris Ramwell was the other try scorer.
A waterlogged pitch at Wilmslow caused yet another postponement but in their rearranged fixture at Rochdale the Vale were defeated for the second time at Moorgate Avenue within a year and in a similar fashion.
The pitch was heavy and not at all in the Vale’s best interests but there was enough capability within the squad to have avoided a 9-3 defeat unfortunately the longer the game went on Vale’s ability to manage the game deserted them, individuals started to take too much on themselves which allowed ’Dale to ease their way to their fourth victory of the season, which was reduced to three following the expulsion of St Benedicts. This was Rochdale’s final win of the season and was not the sort of outcome that will be remembered too fondly by Harry Fellows, who was making his 50th appearance.
After having their tail tweaked at Rochdale the Vale were pawing the ground and breathing fire and smoke as they lined up against beleaguered St Benedicts scoring a converted try within the first minute.
Unfortunately all their efforts proved to be in vain because Vale’s 91-10 victory was struck from the records when the Saints from Whitehaven were unable to complete their season. This leaves Vale’s 15 tries, which included a hat trick from Jonty Higgin, and 8 conversions, consigned to the memory bank.
Seven days later over at Northwich a slice of combative history unfolded when the Vale won for the first time at Moss Farm. This particular Cheshire bogey was put to rest in a 12-5 victory and as the score line suggests it was hard, physically demanding, uncompromising and on the day the Vale’s defensive qualities shone like a diamond. The barricades received a severe examination in the second half when Northwich threw everything at them bar the proverbial kitchen sink, but the line held.
The “Beast from the East” caused the postponement of the fixture over at Stockport at the beginning of March, but on the 10th, with Damon Hall back in the squad the Vale produced another resolute performance team performance at Douglas in a 15-8 win in front of a large contingent of Vale supporters who had travelled to the Isle of Man.
The pitch was pock marked with puddles and churned up as heavy rain fell throughout most of a game where the dividing line between success and failure was paper thin, and for the first time Vale’s replacements remained on the bench. Not so much a case of revenge served up cold but decidedly saturated.
In the rearranged fixture against Blackburn, Damon Hall contributed a hat trick of tries plus three conversions of Vale’s five tries and a penalty goal in a 34-17 win.
All the whispers about promotion were replaced by a more open discussion about the team’s future prospects following their highest point’s victory of the season against Rochdale, 92-7, although the record league victory was set in the 1998/99 at home against York, 97-10.
Rochdale felt the Vale’s wrath, conceding 14 tries, four from Damon Hall and 11 conversions and a hat trick from Fergus Owens, but before Vale’s next outing at Stockport the fate of St Benedicts had been decided leaving the Vale in an unassailable position for promotion.
Stockport were unable to spoil Vale’s party but they did not just roll over, they made the visitors earn their corn until injuries depleted their ranks which enabled the Vale to achieve what in the end was comfortable 68-21 win. Both Damon Hall and Olly Jacques collected hat tricks with flanker Jack Sadler scoring his first tries, bagging a pair in Vale’s total of ten tries; the “Golden Boot” of Damon Hall converted six and two penalties.
It took a while for the Vale to get into their stride at Warrington but eventually the gears meshed as they went onto to win for the first time ever at Walton Lea Lane, 72-24. Twelve tries were scored which included Damon Hall’s last hat trick of his phenomenal season.
The final home game against Northwich was in itself a spectacular occasion, the 57-22 victory only added to the party atmosphere that built to crescendo as the clock ticked down but this result turned out to be the zenith of Vale’s season because they lost their two remaining games.
Various theories have been put forward for the 32-26 defeat at Burnage and the loss at Wilmslow, 37-22, including that perhaps psychology played its part, after all the Holy Grail of promotion had been achieved, records cast to the four winds, and that perhaps the cutting edge and desire had been dulled. Whatever the reasons both Burnage and Wilmslow, whose victory secured them a play off slot which resulted in a nail biting win over at Driffield, 24-21, took their chances to gain some satisfaction after their defeats earlier in the season. For the Vale faithful it was all a huge anti climax to what had been an awesome season.
League records were scattered to the four winds as the Vale registered their highest ever total of league points at 100. They scored 150 tries, plus three penalty tries, 106 conversions and 20 penalties, the outcome of the game against St Benedicts and the abandoned game against Blackburn being erased from the records.
Damon Hall, who had his eyes firmly set on writing his name into the record books early in the campaign, contributed 444 points comprising 43 tries, 89 conversions and 17 pens. His total was 15 more than the one set by Mike Curran in the 1980/81 season. The previous try scoring record of 41 was held by Nick Royle which he achieved in the 2013/14 season. If Damon Hall had not missed games through injury and unavailability his final totals could have been even higher.
Olly Jacques, who had played in all the games, ran in 20 tries, Fergus Owens 14, while Evan Stewart was the forward’s leading try scorer with 12.
Forty two players represented the Vale including eight debutants. Individual milestones were reached by Sam Wallbank, 200+, Andy “Mr Motivator” Powers and Dan Baines 150, Ross Pillow 100+, with Harry Fellows, Dan Rainford and Jack Turton all passing the 50+ mark. Touch judge, the vastly experienced and highly respected Tony Storey, carried his flag waving duties to over 500 games.
Dan Baines, after a brief appearance in the home game against Northwich has been forced to hang up his boots because of injury, a great loss to the club. A long term injury has also caused Ben Charnley to retire. Alex Baines did not feature at because of an on-going injury problem while Adam Macluskie only made three appearances because of injuries but overall the Vale’s season was not disrupted too badly with injuries. Sixteen of those who played in the first team made more than fifteen appearances, many in key positions which helped to bring stability through the spine of the side.
At various times Jonty Higgin, Jordan Dorrington, Damon Hall were not in the front line and following an injury sustained in Douglas prop Jack Ferguson missed the remainder of the season and in the final two fixtures both Ben Dorrington and Jack Sadler suffered injuries that could well be a worry long term.
I hope this review does not create the impression that it was a one player season but Damon Hall’s achievements should not go unrecognised because by any measure it was stupendous.
Of course Damon was a headline writers dream but there were massive contributions from those around him. Flanker Jack Ayrton was outstanding, only missing one game and constantly putting his body where giants feared to tread. Lock Harry Fellows literally grew in stature with every appearance in a pack where the front row of Jack Ferguson, Andy Powers and Ross Pillow were a most proficient unit. The back row players, Sam Wallbank, who played his part with distinction in the second row when required, the aforementioned Jack Ayrton, Jack Sadler Evan Stewart and Tom Cvijanovic all fell easily into the role of hunters and gatherers.
Dan Rainford is deserving of special mention because he is a forward who has become a lighthouse for all those who aspire to pull on a first team jersey. Dan has risen through the ranks and is living proof of the rewards that can be gained by improving personal fitness, attending training sessions on a regular basis and polishing up their technical skills. Dan has done it, so can you!
There was an abundance of talent vying for a place in the back division and when all were available it must have been a nightmare for the selectors but fortunately many were versatile enough to switch positions effortlessly when injuries came to the fore. To bring an extra dimension to Vale’s game plan, there lurked within the threequarters armoury the odd cutlass and broadsword plus the more refined rapier, but regardless of the weaponry they all dished out the same cold steel treatment, be it at close quarters or long range.
Two players, scrum half Billy Swarbrick and standoff Harry Finan played a pivotal role in many of the victories making sure that a star studded back division peppered with the likes of Jordan Dorrington, brother Ben, Jonty Higgin, Fergus Owens, Chris Ramwell and the try scoring duo on the wings, had a steady stream of ball to work their magic with.
So what will North Premier hold? Without a doubt it is going to be tough, resources will be tested as will fitness, technique and commitment; the Vale will be slipped under the microscope in a way that few of the players have experienced, but the goals set ahead of the 2014/15 has been achieved with panache and a little bit of pain on the way. Einstein said “Never think of the future. It comes soon enough,” well there are plenty at Powderhouse Lane who can hardly wait till the first Saturday in September.
I should like to thank Dan Williams, Stuart Hesketh, Peter Lovett-Horn, Andrew Perry, Tony North, Reg Robinson, Fred Swarbrick, plus the “bar flies,” for all their help and advice during the season.