What were the Vale thinking about in the final minutes of their fixture at Marl Pits? The Vale had a scrum deep in Rossendale’s twenty two and were leading 25-21. Referee Hayward had called “last play” and when the Vale secured the ball their loyal supporters assumed it would be hoofed mightily into touch to bring the curtain down.
Adam Foxcroft went for a pick and drive and in the melee that followed James Mawdsley was pinged for going over the top. Vale were caught flat footed when Rossendale took a quick tap to set the right winger off on a death or glory run. He blasted his way through some suspect Vale tackling to career eighty metres for a wonder, and totally unexpected, match winning try.
Everything had unravelled for the Vale. They had lost their first match since the middle of September and had put a serious dent in their hopes of promotion.
To say that it was a frustrating and disappointing experience for the Vale would be a massive understatement. They had their moments to close the game out but they never achieved enough dominance to contain a Rossendale side that stuck to their game plan of nine man rugby.
It might not have been pretty but it was very effective against a Vale side that ignored the script that had served them so well in the previous meeting at The Lane at the beginning of November. In a 74-6 victory the Vale had moved the ball far and wide and away from Rossendale’s forwards who would dearly have loved to indulge in a spot of arm wrestling.
Unfortunately in the second confrontation the Vale fell between two stools. They found themselves dragged into too many forward rumbles, which of course suited the home side, and did not use the creative talents of the backs to full advantage. Eventually the Vale paid a heavy price but few would have predicted such a dramatic conclusion.
Stand-off Alex Briggs opened the scoring for the Vale with a penalty goal and in the first quarter the Vale strung together a number of flowing attacks. Occasionally the wrong options were chosen, passes were dropped but overall the Vale continued with their November theme.
Rossendale shot into the lead when Chris Ramwell lost the ball in a tackle and with the Vale’s defence strung out the home side collected a converted try in the twenty first minute.
In the twenty seventh minute Chris Ramwell collected an angled kick from Alex Briggs for a well taken converted try. Alex Briggs converting this from wide out.
Vale increased their lead with an impressive try following a well channelled attack. Winger Kyel Dempsey completed the move when he acrobatically grounded the ball after some mid air gymnastics, Alex Briggs converted with a superb kick from wide out.
A penalty goal from Alex Briggs put the Vale in a strong position at the interval but they struggled in the early stages of the second half and gradually Rossendale’s formidable pack took control.
Rossendale’s intentions were writ large when in the fifty and fifty seventh minutes their forwards rolled the Vale back over their line for two converted tries to edge into a one point lead.
Vale stated to use the ball intelligently, spreading it wide and forcing their opponents to cover and chase. In addition Rossendale’s frustrations started to boil over with two players being shown yellow cards in quick succession.
This was a situation that was open to exploitation by the Vale and in the seventieth minute Jamie Antcliffe took the ball at pace to thunder over for a try. Alex Briggs’ conversion thumped the upright but did not go over.
Once back to full strength Rossendale weathered further Vale attacks but with time running out they were trapped in their red zone and it looked odds on that Vale would use their nous to secure victory. Everything went pear shaped with a match winning run from Rossendale’s right wing to break Vale’s hearts and end their ten game unbeaten run of league and cup games.