Vale travelled to Rochdale minus a number of their regular player who were injured or unavailable for a variety of reasons forcing team manger, Tony Gilmour, to mix and match his resources and when the injuries began to mount up during the game the dilemma of only having one replacement had a serious impact.

The Vale were forced to play out the closing ten minutes with only thirteen players on the field. Rochdale took full advantage to plunder two converted tries as the Vale's energy levels naturally dipped.

In the opening minutes of the first half Rochdale, who were a different outfit from the one defeated by the Vale at the start of the season, were awarded a string of penalties two of which were slotted over. In addition to being penalised Vale struggled to put together any worthwhile attacks, they coughed up the ball too often for comfort and some tackles were missed.

A flowing Rochdale attack resulted in an unconverted try in the seventeenth minute as the Vale struggled for harmony. Five minutes later unconvincing tackling contributed to a Rochdale converted try. Shortly after Vale's play maker, Neil Walker, sustained an injury and took no further part in the game. The arrival of Simon Harrison off the bench caused a reshuffle of personnel.

Wish three minutes left Wayne Blythe kicked a penalty goal as the Vale began to play with more conviction and sense of purpose. This newly created spirit carried through to the opening exchanges of the second half and early in the second forty the highly combative Jack McIntosh battled his way over for an unconverted try.

Vale suffered another blow when hooker Richard Hodgson badly gashed his head following a collision with a fence post supporting the barriers, his departure forcing more juggling.

Rochdale's left wing intercepted a pass to scorch away for a converted try in the sixty fourth minute, a real body blow for the Vale who saw the game slipping from their grasp.

But despite all their problems two minutes later the irrepressible Jack McIntosh was driven over by his fellow forwards for a deserved try converted by Wayne Blythe. Then a rib injury forced Wayne, who had been playing with confidence and authority, out of contention leaving the Vale to play out the remainder of the game with thirteen players.

A gallant Vale side covered and tackled vigorously but their efforts took its toll physically, bodies and minds became tired and Rochdale eventually made their advantage tell with a couple of late scores to give a slightly lop sided final score line.

All the Vale squad should be congratulated for their performances in adversity. Richard Clarke had a towering game, Jack McIntosh grew in stature, a flashing beacon of hope, Ryan Needham and Tom Cvijanovic were totally committed, while skipper Dan Rainford was solid and dependable throughout. Vale's back division understandably struggled to discover any fluency but special mention should be made of centre Khaizir Aziz who was a late call up, but made a valuable contribution in a testing encounter for the visitors.

Vale 2nds: D Harris; J Alker, K Aziz, W Blythe, J Rowan; N Walker, O Dobson; J Stevens, R Hodgson, R Clarke; R Needham, J McIntosh; T Cvijanovic, J Wallbank, D Rainford (Capt). Replacement: S Harrison.