After being out of action since the beginning of March, when coincidentally the Vale won at home against Lymm 2, they travelled to Beechwood hoping to avenge a heavy defeat by the Cheshire side in November but again they came away empty handed.
The Vale now face a number of demanding fixtures in Conference B and cannot rely on others to ensure their Premier League status, with crucial away games at Altrincham Kersal and Birkenhead Park with a home fixture against Wilmslow being the filling in what is a tasty end of season sandwich.
Vale faced a well organised Lymm side that were well marshalled by their experienced stand off who called all the shots until he left his teammates to their own devices with ten minutes remaining but by this stage there was no doubt about the eventual outcome.
The visitors had first use of the strong wind but they would be the first to admit they did take full advantage of the conditions until late in the half when a number of probing wind assisted kicks had Lymm turning and chasing.
Lymm posted an early try when their young winger touched down in the corner and then confidently added the conversion. He then added a penalty plus a second converted try with the clock showing twelve minutes had elapsed.
Vale struggled to gain control but in the sixteenth minute the Vale pack built up a head of steam and following a rolling maul man of the match Elliot Hatton went over from close range for an unconverted try. Even though the Vale mounted a late rally they were unable to break down a well organised Lymm defence.
Facing the icy blasts the Vale battled hard and restricted the home side for the opening thirty minutes, but Lymm comfortably extended their lead with a flourish in the closing minutes. In the third minute of injury time Jamie Antcliffe nipped over for a consolation try which he converted.
Overall it was a disjointed performance from the Vale; they never achieved the cohesion to put Lymm under sustained pressure and now face an exciting conclusion to the season. In addition to Elliot Hatton’s excellent all round contribution, full back Chris Thomas pulled off a number of try saving tackles, Kieron Doyle worked tirelessly and the front row gave a good account of themselves against their opposite numbers.