Report by Stuart Vernon, photos by Tony North

The curse of Mrs Oilskin and Mr Mackintosh struck again to deny the Vale of Lune’s first team the opportunity to fulfil a second North One West fixture when following heavy rain at the Memorial Ground their game at Wirral was called off on Saturday morning meaning their home game against Fleetwood on Saturday will be their first league action since October 27, a far from ideal situation for players and coaches.
No such problems for the Vale’s second team who recorded a deserved victory against Birkenhead Park who proved to be a more competitive outfit than their position at the foot of the table, they were certainly no pushover and forced the home side to work hard for their fifth league victory of the season, four more than at the comparative time last season.
Once again the Vale were forced to ring the changes with only nine of last week’s eighteen player squad in action but all concerned acquitted themselves well in a tight team performance.
High flying Scott Foy fully deserved to named man of the match following a combative performance, certainly the opposition were unable to clip his wings as he celebrated his promotion to sergeant in the RAF, with a three stripe contribution. But there must have been others in the frame including James Curran, who displayed a huge appetite for adventure, Jamie Antcliffe, presently oozing confidence and a couple of hard grafting forwards, hooker Phil Watson and lock Dan Rainford.
Vale shot away to the ideal start with James Curran streaking over for a try converted by Jamie Antcliffe after five minutes of entertaining rugby. A crossfield, mazy, head bobbing run from James Curran in which he linked with Liam Power on the opposite wing stretched Park but the attack stalled, ran out of momentum and ideas which allowed the visitors to tidy up the situation.
Gradually Park game into the game via their hard working forwards and a darting, eager scrum half who was quick to exploit any gaps in the Vale’s defensive capabilities, especially around the fringes. In the sixteenth minute following a period of sustained pressure from Birkenhead Park they levelled the scores with a converted try.
Two well matched worked hard for supremacy throughout the second quarter, playing value for money, entertaining rugby in a finely balanced contest. The James Curran, Liam Power axis almost broke the deadlock with five minutes remaining but Liam Power was bundled into touch hard by the corner flag.
Thirty four seconds into the second half the Vale took the lead. Their drop out was miss fielded by a Park defender, stand off Sean Coulshed pounced on the ball to slip a beautifully weighted pass to Scot Foy who switched on the boosters to touch down between the posts for a lightning try converted by Jamie Antcliffe.
Four minutes later Park were back on level terms when the Vale defenders were slow to react to a kick through that bounced its merry way towards their goal line. By the time the danger was recognised a Park player was touching down for an unconverted try.
Vale hit back immediately. James Curran loped away to link with Jamie Antcliffe who completed a swift counter with an unconverted try in the forty seventh minute. This score put some daylight between the two sides but the game was evenly poised with the outcome very much in the balance.
Just before the hour mark the game swung definitely in the Vale’s favour. Park had a player in the sin bin and for the first time in the game the Vale were allowed extra space to operate in. Following a prolonged passage of leg pumping forward play from the forwards, the ball was moved wide, James Curran gave a little show and go before slinking over for a try converted by James Antcliffe.
In the seventieth minute Phil Watson capped an industrious performance with try after scrum half Ollie Dobson had streaked away followed by a surge from Alex Morrison. Phil Watson was on hand to touch down to complete the scoring in a game that went a long way towards putting into cold storage being knocked out of the Raging Bull Cup the previous week and in addition lifting the side ahead of a trip to second in the league Caldy next week.