Vale won their second game on the bounce with a heart warming, confidence boosting victory at Wirral, never an easy venue to achieve a positive result.
There was some confusion in naming the starting line up because of the late arrival of Vale’s transport but once all the adjustments had been made a balance had been struck.
Straight from the kick off the Vale found themselves under pressure and trapped in their own twenty two for a long period. Wirral scorned a number of kickable penalties but eventually common sense prevailed and three points were put on the board in the eighth minute.
Gradually the Vale worked themselves out of the danger zone. The forwards started to exert control in key areas but few clear cut chances failed to emerge.
Alex Briggs kicked a penalty goal in the twenty third minute but Wirral regained the lead with penalty four minutes later.
Play began to open up as the Vale began to move the ball wide and stated to probe Wirral’s defence. Jordan Fern charged energetically down the right wing, Scott Manning tracked the winger’s run and taking the ball with the taps fully opened he broke clear before slipping a pass to flanker Fraser Spavin who ran thirty metres to round off a thrilling move with a try; Alex Briggs added the conversion. A splendid, well executed score.
Throughout the encounter the second’s tackling had been beyond reproach but late in the half they rather blotted their copybook following a line out to let Wirral in for a converted try.
Vale began the second half very much on the front foot with the forwards picking and driving into the heart of Wirral’s defence to suck in their opponents. Prop Aiden Yates, who made a enormous contribution to his side’s cause, thundered between the posts for a try converted by Alex Briggs in the forty sixth minute.
Some ill directed kicks out of defence caused the Vale unwelcome pressure and problems, but their composure did not desert them and Wirral were unable to take advantage, with some predictable attacks well policed by the Vale.
Jordan Fern crossed for an unconverted try in the sixty third minute, a score that put the Vale into a position where they were able to dictate the structure of the game as a whole.
Just before the final whistle Vale swarmed all over Wirral’s defences and with players to spare Kyel Dempsey looped round for a smart try wide out which Alex Briggs converted with a splendid kick.
It was a productive outcome for the Vale who are to be congratulated on overcoming the difficulties prior to, and after the kick off. The back row of Isaac Turton, Fraser Spavin and Andrew Garnett, were in the words of Tina Turner, “Simply the Best;” outstanding and ferocious in the loose they were constantly in the faces of the opposition, as was the belligerent Sam Hoare.
In a well drilled pack Joe Stevens, Matt Field and Aiden Yates put themselves about to good effect. However, the backs never really got into their stride; they flickered brightly at times but struggled for fluency. Jordan Fern always posed a threat while on the opposite wing Alex Griffiths looked assured and comfortable.
Vale are without a fixture on Saturday but their next game will provide them with another opportunity to cross swords with Stockport 2 in a home tie in the BEST Cup on October 14.