Stockport seconds have been having a difficult season, conceding in excess of 500 points but against the Vale their defence proved difficult to break down in a rousing cup tie that ended with a victorious Vale moving into the semi finals of the competition.

Vale found themselves a side that was liberally sprinkled with experience players in key positions, but to their credit the visitors marshalled their resources intelligently, in particular during some hectic backs to the wall exchanges.

Kick off was delayed until two thirty because of traffic problems on the M6 but even so Alex Morison and John Hodgkinson only just made the start time. Stockport put the Vale under sustained pressure in the early exchanges, they pinned them deep in their own territory with some pin point accurate kicks allied to some powerful surges.

During this period the Vale only shipped three points from an early penalty goal and in the twenty third minute they went into the lead. Vale's hard grafting forwards set up the secure with a well managed mighty forward drive when the ball was released centre Scott Manning time his thundering run from deep to perfection and with his feet firmly planted on the floorboards he was well nigh unstoppable, his try being converted by Kieron Doyle.

Unfortunately Vale's lead did not last long because following a number of missed tackles Stockport edged ahead by one point following an unconverted try. The home side might have added to their lead but a penalty kick struck an upright and bounced away out of harms way as far as the Vale were concerned.

Injuries to Olly Cowey and John Hodgkinson forced Vale to make changes in the pack and at one change Joe Clarkson left the action to have a cut attended to.

In the fifty first minute a slice of magic from Kieron Doyle formed the vital ingredient in Vale's match winning score. The stand off pouched the ball in his own half, he quickly surveyed his options before deftly chipping over the heads of the chasers and then collecting the ball prior to sending Jamie Antcliffe on his way to a stunning long range unconverted try.

Stockport threw everything at the Vale, but heroic tackling ensured the line held firm. Kieron Doyle, like a good housekeeper tidied up behind the defence, but the Stockport threat remained with the outcome balanced on a knife edge. Late in the game Stock strung together an attack hissing with danger and venom that had the visitors fully stretched. There was a huge collective sigh of relief from the Vale camp when the referee awarded the Vale a penalty after the home side had penalised for crossing; a big call in the context of the game.

Despite the odd blemish, it was a stalwart team performance. Back row forwards Tom Cvijanovic and Joe Clarkson were outstanding and totally committed to the cause, while Kieron Doyle pulled the strings in a tie where there was little time and space available.