For the Vale it was very much a case of after the Lord Mayor’s Show at Beechwood, following their inspiring victory against Fylde 2 the previous week. In a squad containing a fair proportion of players who had performed with distinction against Fylde the visitors never came to terms with a Lymm side that was quick to punish any mistake and who had a wrecking ball in the centre who wreaked havoc with ball in hand, plus a solid scrum that made life difficult for the Vale who struggled to build a solid platform.
In the thirteenth minute Lymm’s number thirteen left his called card when he exploded through the centre for an unconverted try but in the twenty sixth minute the Vale took the lead. A well co-ordinated move from their own half ended with prop Josh O’Donnell barging his way over between the posts for a try converted by Kieran Doyle.
Unfortunately the Vale conceded two tries one of which was converted, when Lymm took full advantage of some unconvincing tackling to establish a half time lead of 17-7.
Vale’s problems continued early in the second half when Lymm’s centre clattered through for another try, followed by one from the right wing who exploited the wide open spaces with a converted try in the fifty third minute.
The introduction of Lee Farnworth into the action, which caused a reshuffle in the forwards, brought a level of stability and confidence to the Vale’s game.
In the sixty first minute the alert Sean Coulshed touched down for a try after the Vale had swooped on a lazy Lymm kick out of defence, Kieran Doyle added the conversion to bring his side back into contention. However, Lymm turned up the wick to blast in two converted tries in the closing eight minutes.
Vale did show glimpses of their potential but overall the Cheshire side made few errors and successfully had the Vale on the back foot for long periods, special mention must be made of Gus McSporran for his contribution after taking his place in the front row at short notice in a testing encounter for all concerned.
Hopefully the Vale will be able to recapture the verve shown against Fylde in the second meeting between the two clubs in a short space of time when they face each other at Powder House Lane in a Raging Bull Cup tie on Saturday.
Vale A: R Ward; S Coulshed, J Antcliffe J Birchall (E Fowler 40), A Muir; K Doyle, l Power; J O’Donnell, G McSporran, P Berry; C Quick, A Foxcroft; T Cvijanovic (L Farnworth 54), L Birchall (J Tolan 48), D Rainford