1 Jack Ferguson Phil Sutcliffe
2 Dan Baines Bay Travel
3 Ross Pillow Fat Lads United
4 Dan Rainford Morecambe M C
5 Adam Foxcroft Jilly Beads
6 Tom Cvijanovic SJB Tiling Ltd
7 Jack Ayrton Allan Entwistle (Enty)
8 Sam Wallbank George Dickson
9 Billy Swarbrick The Alies
10 Ben Dorrington Foxcroft Construction
11 Jordan Fern Online Systems
12 Jonty Higgin Ron Higgin
13 Tom Slater A J B Electricals
14 Jimmy Birchall Duncan Hall Financial Services
15 Chris Ramwell
16 Ben Charnley
17 Joe Wallbank
18 Kyel Dempsey
Match Sponsor: Pye Motors
Match Ball Sponsor:
Team Mascot: Toby Park
The last meeting between the two clubs at the end of September, ended with Eccles recording their first win of the season against the Vale of Lune, 22-7. Winless Vale had to wait another week before breaking their duck and after a couple of stutters began to drag themselves clear of swirling, murky depths of North One West. Eccles however, only had their victory against the Vale on their C.V., prior to kick off, and were propping up the table.
So the New Year not only brought with it the usual assortment of sartorial Christmas presents in the form of sweaters, scarves, gloves and warm hats but also a directive from World Rugby. A set of revised disciplinary sanctions, designed to safeguard the health and welfare of players and match officials, came into effect on January 3.
Not only are players being asked to act more responsibly, difficult sometimes in the heat of battle, but it was another layer of interpretation of the laws for the referee to wrestle with.
The appointed match official, Damian Hamilton, is referee of vast experience but even so he knew the he would be under the microscope, not only from his assessors but the “experts” gathered on the terraces.
Overall, the man in the middle had few issues to deal with in a game which was played in excellent spirit. He quickly defused any potential hot spots, with a light touch, but the main area of concern centred on the thick fog that descended on The Lane during the second half, but with Mr Hamilton in close proximity to the gorillas in the mist he was able to ensure the game ran its allotted time span.
A quartet of players who were unavailable for the fixture at Kirkby Lonsdale were back in the frame. Skipper Dan Baines, Ben Dorrington and Jonty Higgin, who has missed the last four games, all returned from injury, while Jack Ferguson had served his three match suspension following his red card against Warrington.
The Vale appeared to show few signs of being affected by the mini break and quickly had points on the board. From a neatly worked line out Sam Wallbank went wheeling over unopposed in the sixth minute, unfortunately Tom Slater’s howitzer conversion thudded against the crossbar.
There were early indications that Vale’s pack had plenty of leverage at scrum time and gave their opposite numbers little respite throughout. It was pretty much one way traffic with Eccles desperately trying to achieve some stability.
Tom Slater kicked a penalty goal in the thirteenth minute and straight from the restart the Vale added a second try in a thrilling move. Dan Baines made light work of picking up a difficult ball, Jonty Higgin carried the move on, Chris Ramwell, who had a fine all round game, came roaring into the line. Jimmy Birchall ran with purpose before linking with Billy Swarbrick who skipped away for an unconverted try.
Vale’s composure and authority was challenged in the twenty fifth minute when they failed to be alert to the danger of an innocuous punt into their own half. While players dithered, Eccles scrum half, Tom Waring tracked the ball’s flight path and won the dash for the touchdown for an unconverted try.
This giveaway was the only blot on the Vale’s escutcheon and with Chris Ramwell carving huge openings the Vale quickly put this set back behind them, but their only score came in the thirty third minute when Tom Slater kicked a penalty after the pack had put a demolition charge under their opponents.
Visibility decreased at the start of the second half, the Crem pitch disappeared into something resembling a pea souper, just an eerie blast on the referee’s whistle signalled a game was taking place. No vehicle lights could be seen on the nearby “Gateway” and the outline of the changing rooms, like a huge white liner’s superstructure, began slowly to disappear.
But the Vale had their radar switched and within three minutes of the restart they had plotted a away through Eccles’s defence courtesy of Chief Navigation Officer Ben Dorrington, who sold a huge dummy that was brought hook line and sinker. Jimmy Birchall plotted his way to the safety of a five point harbour, conscious that shortest distance between two fixed points was a straight line; Tom Slater added the conversion.
With the Vale’s paddle wheels now churning at a healthy rate of knots another score appeared on the horizon in the forty eighth minute. This time Chris Ramwell was the deserved recipient of the rum ration. The ball was moved quickly crossfield without any spillage and on cue Chris Ramwell popped up for his try bonus tot, which was converted by Tom Slater.
Oohs and aahs from shrouded touchlines marked the passage of play with yet another enterprising Vale attack ending in a further haul of points from a Tom Slater penalty in the fifty seventh minute.
Somewhere in the shadows Vale’s pack rumbled their way to the line to set up an unconverted try for replacement Joe Wallbank in the sixty fifth minute, a fitting contribution from the Wallbank brothers who had opened and closed the scoring.
In the closing minute Eccles grabbed a consolation try scored by their young, dangerous winger, Gavin Ackers-Johnson, who took full advantage of an overlap to leave Vale’s defenders trailing in his wake, his try being converted by George Oakey, but by then the Vale had switched off the engines and were effortlessly gliding into port and preparing to weigh anchor.
Report filed by Stuart Vernon.