15 Alex Batson
14 Harry Evans
13 Richard Dewar
12 Petra Alexov
11 Joe Bebbington
10 Will Hunt
9 Paul Scott
1 Joe Stevens
2 Paul Peters
3 Owen Brandford
4 Andy Waite
5 Dan Rainford
7 Matt Field
8 Noah Tulley
6 Joe Wallbank (Capt.)
16 Isaac Thornton
17 James Hesketh
18 Louis Evans.
Vale had travelled on the first day of the season to one of their most distant fixtures on their list this season. Due to unavailability’s a number of new faces were included in the side and all were prepared for the game in the pre-match warm up. The performance of these Gents mixed in with some of the most experienced players in the Club was going to be most interesting.
In fact it was indeed a great effort for these Gents to put themselves forward for this fixture. Sandbach had been promoted last season into this Championship league as have Birkenhead Park who will be with us next week at Powderhouse lane. They were and are a side of great talent.
Will Hunt, and great to see him in Vale colours again, kicked off and deep. Sandbach took the ball cleanly and a strong tackling Petra Alexov stopped any serious movement. The ball was lost and a sweeping move by the Sandbach threequarters resulted in a try 7 minutes in. The conversion failed.
A feature of the game was indeed the amount of lost possession from the Vale side resulting in them being continuously under attack.
After a bout of scrappy play Sandbach then came away after gaining possession and took the game to the Vale line. Crossing for a second try and a successful conversion. Joe Wallbank was playing a powerful game and made a strong break up the field from the back of the scrum only to be held up.
Andy Waite was tackling like a demon, and stopping a number of Sandbach breaks which could well have resulted in scores. Vale were coming into the game and whilst they were being outplayed up front in the line out their scrummaging was a great plus for the side.
The front row of Joe Stevens, Paul Peters and Owen Brandford were clearly putting pressure on the Sandbach trio in the front row. It was easy to see the drive coming through from Dan Rainford and Andy Waite. The back row of Matt Field – what a game Matt had – Joe Wallbank and Noah Tulley were cleaning up everywhere but the pacey Sandbach threequarters were causing problems outside.
Must mention Noah Tulley, a hooker, playing out of position in the back row, but what a player. He will move into the front row on is 18th birthday in October.
The Vale at this stage were gaining a presence and a series of scrums called correctly by Skipper Joe Wallbank took Sandbach within reach of their line. At this stage one of their props was injured and taken from the field with a neck injury. Uncontested scrums cameinto play and the most rewarding part of the game regards the Vale was taken out of their hands. On 35 minutes Sandbach scored again.
Half time arrived and Vale were going to have to pull things together in what promised to be an uncompromising second half. Will Hutton was clearly struggling with a leg problem and later left the field. Paul Scott – what a man – playing out of position at scrum half was battling on. Alex Petrov and Richard Dewar were fighting hard in the centre but the pace of the Sandbach threequarters was causing great difficulty.
Louis Evans took over from Will Hunt at flyhalf as we knew Will was struggling. Louis looked good in this position and had in fact moved from centre after taking over from Richard Dewar as Richard had overworked and he had.
Alex Batson at fullback was under considerable pressure at times as the waves increased, but the whole side was battling hard. Heads never dropped and Joe Bebbington and Harry Evans on the wings were waiting for the ball, but generally received man and ball. They did not give up.
Late in the second half Vale exerted pressure on the Sandbach line and in the maul as formed Dan Rainford touched down. A just result for the hard work he had put in throughout the game.
Final score 43 points to 5 points but once the side settles positive results will appear.
Great to see Hesky encouraging the lads from the line and finally coming on to provide some energy in the final minutes of the game.
Thanks to Fred Swarbrick for this match report and to Reg Robinson for all his copious notes and assessments over many seasons they have been most appreciated. Enjoy your retirement Reg.