As the the fireworks were readied and bonfires built the Vale of Lune 2nd XV took on a battle hardened Warrington outfit. Having only travelled with 14 men, including a special return from retirement for our Director of Rugby Daniel Rainford (Rainy), the Vale boys were always going to be up against it. Special shout-out to step in 2nd team coach/selector Tom Needham who has been working tirelessly to put together squads for these tough fixtures.

From the first kick off the boys were right at it. Strong carries from Ganesh Paul and Joe Harrison really set the tone for the powerful Vale pack to dominate up front. From these strong carries the Vale marched their way into the opposition 22. Joe Harrison after another marauding run delicately offloaded to release the surprisingly quick Adam Newton, who finished superbly for the opening try (unconverted). A second try followed quickly as powerful forward carries set a great platform to attack from, which experienced second row Adam Foxcroft took advantage off and barged his way over for another try (unconverted). The rest of first half followed a similar pattern of Vale dominance and eventually following some slick handling Joe Wills was able to glide over a well worked try (converted finally).

Despite the first half dominance the Warrington side started to come back into the game as they made use of the extra man. Clever kicking from the Warrington Fly Half pinned the Vale side inside their own half. After winning a scrum, which were now uncontested to the delight of Rainy, inside the Vale 22 Warrington shipped the ball wide and scored with the last play of the half (converted). Warrington 7-17 Vale half time.

This try seemed to spur on the Warrington side who came out in the second half with much more energy and drive. Unfortunately this energy bubbled over as a coming together occurred off the ball. Never to leave his teammates in danger Stuart Taylor flew in like a goose to protect his players. This resulted in him and a Warrington player being sent to think about their actions for 10 minutes. Down to 13 men the Vale defence would be put to the test. The centres of Daniel Rodriquez and Richard Hodgson created a wall across the pitch, felling any players who came in their path. Joe Wills playing in a Fly Half/Full Back role made numerous last man tackles that stopped many tries and was a key part of both attack and defence for Vale. Despite their heroics the 13 men could only hold on for so long as the rapid Warrington winger ran in a try that was bravely (illegally) held up over the line but the referee had already given the try (unconverted).

With the game heading into the final stages the Vale side were back to full strength (14 men). Despite spending 5 minutes camped in the Warrington 22 and wasting numerous opportunities to score. A penalty in front of the posts was too hard to turn down as Jacob Thomas opted for the 3 points putting the score line to 12-20. As the experienced Vale side tired and Warrington started spreading the ball wide, gaps started appearing. It wasn’t long before the rapid Warrington winger was again running through the Vale defence and scoring in the corner for an unconverted try, Warrington 17-20 Vale. With 7 minutes to go and despite there being a massive scoreboard at the side of the pitch the industrious Jack Chadwick asked Rainy “what’s the score?” much to the amusement of everyone around.

The last 7 minutes was very cagey with the Vale looking to keep the ball as much as possible. The aforementioned Jack Chadwick was crucial at this stage of the game, his relentless work rate and hard carries earnt Vale valuable ground. After trudging their way into the Warrington 22 they got a penalty in front of the posts with 2 minutes to go. Jacob Thomas took his time and slotted the penalty meaning that all Vale had to do was catch the kick off and the game would be won. Thankfully it landed into the safe hands of Richard Hodgson who booted the ball into touch handing Vale their first away win of the season.

A fantastic win on the road despite only having 14 men solidified Vales position at second in the table. With an exciting local derby against Kendal on Saturday the boys will be eager to get another win on the road.

1. Adam Newton
2. Stephen Smith
3. Daniel Rainford
4. Adam Foxcroft
5. Connor Macfarlane
6. Ganesh Paul
7. Jack Chadwick
8. Joe Harrison
9. Jacob Thomas (C)
10. Joe Wills
11. David Penrice
12. Daniel Rodriquez
13. Richard Hodgson
14. Stuart Taylor