1 Olly Cowey Lancaster Lets
2 Dan Baines Bay Travel
3 Ross Pillow Fat Lads United
4 Tom Cvijanovic Trevolutions Ltd.
5 Alex Baines Jilly Beads
6 Andy Powers SJB Tiling Ltd
7 Jack Ayrton Allan Entwistle (Enty)
8 Sam Wallbank George Dickson
9 Charlie Lomas Ground Crew/Alies
10 Adam Macluskie Foxcroft Construction
11 Al Crookall Online Systems
12 Jonty Higgin Ron Higgin
13 Ben Dorrington Stella Artois
14 James Birchall Duncan Hall Financial Services
15 Fergus Owens Morecambe Bay Properties
16 Aiden Yates
17 Adam Foxcroft
18 Jake Harrison

The last meeting at Moorgate Avenue at North One West level was in January 2013 when Rochdale avenged a September defeat at Powderhouse Lane with a 23-11 victory, but because of Rochdale's geographical position they were transferred to North One East at the end of the 2012/13 season.

Vale of Lune celebrated the resumption of fixtures with their first win on Rochdale soil since January 2003 when they were victorious in a North Two West fixture, winning 25-10, in the season where they were promoted to North One.

The Vale also extended their unbeaten run to four games, the result of the game against Broughton Park will now stand, plus they prevented their opponents from scoring for the second time this season, their previous clean sheet was at the beginning of October when they defeated Eccles at home 51-0. This was the first occasion in an away game when the opposition were denied points since March 2013 when a 6-0 victory at Widnes was recorded.

After a demanding opening to their season, where only one win was registered from four games, the Vale have stabilized the situation by winning against sides below them in the league, not only have important points been stashed away but the sweet aromas of victories have wafted through the squad, visibly lifting both confidence and spirit.

Of course tough assignments await the Vale through December and January when they will cross swords with some of the clubs who are currently in the upper echelons of North One West, but the pressures are not quite of the same magnitude because the last four results have brought them valuable breathing space as the mid way point of the season beckons.

As the first chill of winter was being experienced, the distant Pennines were covered in a dusting of snow while conditions underfoot were heavy to say the least after all the torrential rain in the week, but the Vale made the prefect start playing towards the imposing clubhouse. Centre Ben Dorrington angled a kick towards the right flank where the lurking Al Crookall gathered the ball cleanly before touching down for an unconverted try in the fourth minute.

Positive, sensible rugby from the visitors limited Rochdale, who found it difficult to break out of their own half. A well balanced run from Fergus Owens had the Rochdale defenders scurrying but overall the Vale played a tight game with their forwards doing the lion's share of the heaving and carrying, with man of the match, scrum half, Charlie Lomas barking out the orders and snapping at their heels throughout.

Rochdale created the minimum of chances because the Vale were mean and too well organised and although play at times was scrappy and untidy the Vale fully deserved their half time lead. Charlie Lomas kicked a fortieth minute penalty goal after Jonty Higgin had instigated a sweeping attack.

Following an early second half penalty miss from Charlie Lomas, Rochdale came more and more into the game via their forwards, who started to play with more cohesion. Suddenly, for the first time the Vale look rattled and started to lose their shape, as Rochdale eased themselves back into contention. Wayward kicks, poor decision making and a visibly reduction in work rate handed the initiative over to Rochdale who were unable to capitalise on the situation.

Eventually the Vale lifted themselves out of the slough of their own making and with forwards Dan Baines, Andy Powers, Olly Cowey and Sam Wallbank, were well to the fore, in what was overall a gutsy, praiseworthy performance from the pack, the tide began to turn in the Vale's favour.

In the seventy first minute a solid Vale scrum forced a penalty which Ben Dorrington efficiently kicked. A real strength of purpose was flowing through the Vale side and victory was secured in the eightieth minute when Ben Dorrington thumped over a forty eight metre penalty goal.

On what turned out to be a statistically memorable day at Moorgate Avenue the final words being bashed out on the keyboard belong to Sam Wallbank who was making his 150th first team appearance. Sam made his full first team debut against Garstang in December 2008; the previous month he had come on as a replacement at Wigton.

He was club and first team captain in the 2014/15 season following his one season at Preston Grasshoppers. Although Sam missed out on scoring a try at Rochdale his record of crossing the whitewash is quite impressive, his try total currently stands at 43, including the 7 he has scored so far this season. In the 2014/15 he was joint leading try scorer with Rob Lamberton, with 11 each, and in the 2011/12 and 2012/13 he was also the top gun for the forwards with 8 and 12 tries respectively. Congratulations Sam, tremendous.