The game started at a fast pace and it was clear early on that the Vale’s threequarter line had indeed a degree of pace. In the opening ten minutes the Vale swarmed all over Stockport but were unable to cross the line. Eventually a score materialised when they stole the ball at a Stockport line out and for Sam Hoare to use all his strength to score wide out. Alex Briggs, at stand-off and playing his first game at this level, was off target with the conversion, but overall the number ten read the game perfectly, his passing and astute kicking being of the highest order.
After half an hour Alex Morrison came on to replace Joe Wallbank and it was not long before this experienced, evergreen wing forward began to go through his repertoire of foraging for the ball in the loose to win valuable turnover ball.
Vale’s scrum was superior throughout, constantly knocking back the Stockport eight. The front row was particularly effective. Prop Matt Field has developed his game fantastically in the loose, hooker Ben Evans, from Lancaster University, who was making his debut and Alex Cowey on the other side of the scrum, formed a powerful unit and posed all sorts of problems for their opposite numbers.
In the thirty fifth minute skipper Scott Manning, who was in great form, broke clear before passing to brother Nathan who in turn slipped a pass to Ben Evans who touched down through a crowd of players wide out, Alex Briggs came close with conversion attempt.
The first half continued at a healthy lick, but at times the handling left something to be desired. Jordan Fern made an impressive forty metre run, Kyel Dempsey showed strength and pace and along with his partner on the centre, Jamie Antcliffe, they were a real menace to Stockport’s defensive alignment.
Taylor Mills at scrum half was his usual busy self, cajoling the forwards constantly, directing operations, barking out instructions to the pack and making effective use of the ball provided by his number eight Liam Hall, who along with his comrades in the back row, Tom Rogers and Isaac Turton, played at a high tempo throughout.
Scott Manning used his replacements wisely, giving the hard working front row players the chance to take a breather with John Hodgkinson coming on to replace Alex Cowey but it did not affect the power output of the scrum. As the game went on Ben Evans proved to be an energetic player in the loose, constantly harassing the opposition.
The problems of miss-directed passes and dropped balls that bedevilled play in the first half, a throwback to the game down at Lymm, the seconds began to pull things together in the second half as concentration levels increased.
In the forty fifth minute, a Vale break was carried on by Isaac Turton, who as always was up in support, the flanker sprinted forty metres to score between the posts, his try being converted by Alex Briggs.
The accurate kicking of Alex Briggs pinned Stockport deep in their territory and from another line out Sam Hoare repeated his smash and grab act but this time he knocked the ball into the safe hands of Tom Rogers who scuttled between the posts for a deserved try converted by Alex Briggs.
As the game opened up and with the Vale in control chances were created at regular intervals. Ollie Dobson, in his first outing of the season, brought yet more pace to a side that was sending the rev counter into the red. This was highlighted when after Scott Manning had broken clear he linked with Ollie Dobson who switched on the turbo jet to outpace Stockport’s cover defence.
The Vale appeared to relax which allowed Stockport to launch a ferocious attack on their line. Vale’s defence became stretched, John Hodgson was shown a yellow card but the barricades were not breached and huge kick down field from Scott Manning defused the situation.
Having overcome this scare the Vale increased their lead. Kyel Dempsey completed a streamlined handling move for his try which Alex Briggs converted. There was still time for one more score, with once again the forwards providing the ideal launch pad. From a solid scrum, Jamie Antcliffe, a real tower of strength in the middle, blasted his way over for his try, with Alex Briggs again adding the extras.
Stockport 2 will be visiting Powderhouse Lane on October 11 in the BEST Cup Competition and looking to avenge their defeat, but in the meantime Vale will need to focus on a difficult away fixture on Saturday as their bandwagon rolls on its merry way to Wirral.
Team: 15 S Manning (Capt); 14 N Manning, 13 J Antcliffe, 12 K Dempsey, 11 J Fern; 10 A Briggs, T Mills; 1 A Cowey, 2 B Evans, 3 M Field; 4 S Hoare, 5 J Wallbank; 6 T Rogers, 7 I Turton, 8 L Hall. 16 O Dobson, 17 A Morrison, 18 J Hodkinson.
I should like to thank Fred Swarbrick for supplying the details of the game.