During the second half the Vale had established a 15-3 lead against a battling Lymm side which earlier in the season had inflicted a heavy defeat on the Vale at Beechwood, but the home side took their feet of the accelerator to allow the Cheshire side back into the game.
Holding a precarious lead the Vale had cause to thank fly half Paul Shepherd who pulled off a try saving tackle in the closing minutes to stop the visitors from snatching a dramatic last gasp victory but realistically the Vale should never had put themselves into such an embarrassing position after having so much of the play.
Vale made the ideal start with a try after nine minutes when the experienced Andy Garnett detached himself off the back of a rolling maul for an unconverted try. For the rest of the half the Vale struggled to recapture their earlier momentum when a combination of dropped passes, over complicated moves, plus some individuals running down blind alleys into the waiting arms of the Lymm reception committee. Without a doubt the Vale should have turned round with a few more points in their account.
The balance sheet looked much better in the forty eighth minute after Garnett had backed up an attack that had been instigated by a classy break from Shepherd, Jamie Antcliffe’s conversion hit an upright but failed to go over, a similar situation occurred for Antcliffe at the start of the second half with a penalty kick.
A Lymm penalty in the fifty eighth minute was followed by a superbly crafted unconverted Vale try. The ball was flashed confidentially through many pairs of hands before Jimmy Birchall touched down in the sixty fourth minute.
Job done? Well not quite as Lymm sensed that the Vale were thinking they had done enough to stash away valuable Conference B points. Suddenly the Vale’s lead was reduced to a couple of nervous points after Lymm had added a converted try and a penalty.
With pressure building on the Vale they appeared to be skating on thin ice as Lymm found fresh heart and desire only to have their hopes dashed when Shepherd pulled off a vital tackle that undoubtedly saved his side’s bacon.
Wing forward Isaac Turton was named man of the match after a massive industrious, competitive performance and along with Garnett formed a combative duo before Garnett’s services were required in the threequarters for the second half. Lock Dan Rainford put in another full shift, Duncan Fletcher had another tidy game at full back and hero Shepherd did his best to get the line moving.
All the pundits suggested the Vale’s winning margin should have been much wider but credit should be given to a Lymm side which refused to let the home side have things all their own way. Referee Rob Sheard controlled the game with his usual quiet efficiency, always keeping the players in the loop and informed of the reasons for his decisions, information that was fully appreciated by not only the combatants but by a group of hardy supporters on a cold, draughty day at The Lane.
Vale A: D Fletcher; A Muir, J Antcliffe, J Birchall, R Bowen; P Shepherd, R Lamerton; M Field, P Watson (Capt), P Jackson; A Foxcroft, D Rainford; H Fellows, I Turton, A Garnett. Replacements used: C Quick, J O’Donnell, E Hatton