Vale’s victory in their final Conference B fixture of the season took them to an impressive and deserved second place in the league behind Burnage.

This might not have been one of the Vale’s most dominating performances of the season but they displayed tremendous resilience in battling their way back into contention against a lively Lymm side, which at one stage held a 30-14 lead in the second half.

It took a sleepy Vale a while to shake off the effects of the journey to Beechwood and they quickly fell behind to a penalty goal and a converted try. Spirits were lifted in the tenth minute when Luke Richmond, whose progress had been hindered by injury this season, powered his way over for a try converted by Kieran Doyle.

Any wayward kick was punished during the first half as Lymm extended their lead with two further converted tries. With ten minutes remaining of the half the Vale were awarded a penalty try, converted by Kieran Doyle to bring an air of respectability to the scoreline from the visitor’s perspective, plus some relief.

Unfortunately the Vale were unable to improve on the situation because they fell further behind at the opening of the second half as Lymm added two penalties to their total to push their lead out to sixteen points.

The hard working Matthew Kitchen drove over for an unconverted try in the fiftieth minute after the pack had rumbled forward with a gleam in their eyes. Gavin Speak’s arrival off the bench brought much needed beef to the scrums as the Vale began to gain control.

Rhodri Bowen displayed lightning reactions when he collected the ball from the vicinity of his ankles to streak away for a try converted by Kieran Doyle in the sixty fifth minute. Lymm stretched the lead with a penalty but in the seventy first minute the Vale drew level with a well taken try from the hard working Huw Marsden again Kieran Doyle adding the conversion.

As the game slipped into injury time Kieran Doyle thumped over a long range penalty to secure victory after the Vale had worked hard to gain the initiative in a game that appeared to be drifting away from them, but they regrouped to rekindle the spirit that had characterised their performances in Conference B as they dragged themselves back into contention.

A friendly Lymm clubhouse helped to stoke the fires of celebration for all the players who had dug deep in the second half of the season to repay the unstinting efforts of team manager Tony Gilmour, not only when he was prowling the touchline, but behind the scenes as he ensured a full turn out on match days, skipper Lee Farnworth who could never be accused of accepting second best, physio Claire, for whom the players had the up most respect for, and their loyal band of supporters.