After a recent upturn in form and confidence this result came like a bolt out of the blue for the Vale who were quite unable to raise their game to a sufficient level to seriously trouble Sandbach who went onto register their first victory of the season.

Both players, coaches, supporters were at a loss to explain such an ineffectual performance, physio Jemma was pretty forthright in her assessment of the way that the game had unfolded and its final outcome, her simple one word comment "sh***!" summed up a frustrating afternoon for many.

It would be a massive understatement to say that the Vale were disappointed especially after some excellent vibes emerging from their recent fixtures. It was unfortunate that scrum half Olly Dobson ended on the losing side because he worked hard throughout, always in the thick of the action and trying his utmost to defuse the threat posed by Sandbach.

Not for the first time this season for the Vale it was a case of putting names to a collection of new faces, plus discovering the positions they preferred to play in, but even so it was sometimes a case of square pegs in round holes, unfortunately it showed.

In a pretty undistinguished first half Sandbach led 7-0 at half time, with their converted try following some rather slack Vale tackling which was duly punished. Vale struggled to retain possession, the ball was stripped from their grasp rather too easy for comfort and while they looked to have the capability of breaking through they were unable to raise their game to a sufficient level to cause worry lines on their opponent's faces; they appeared to have left their game plan somewhere on the M6.

Matters did not improve in the second half for the Vale as they were forced move players around because of niggling injuries which disrupted their endeavours. Sandbach edged further ahead with a penalty goal in the fifty sixth minute and twelve minutes the Cheshire Set were gifted a converted try when the ball was given away rather cheaply.

As the game moved in the closing stages the sleeping giant began to rouse itself as the Vale started to take the game to Sandbach with new vigour and for the first time in the game began to play on the front foot.

Adam Foxcroft battled his way over for a deserved unconverted try in the seventieth minute, a score that acted as a rallying call for his colleagues, and too their credit they responded positively.

Seven minutes later newcomer Bradley Goss, who had started the game as a wing forward but moved out to the wing when the injuries began to cause changes in the formation, touched down for a snip of a try converted by Sean Coulshed. The clock however, was ticking down and although Sandbach were visibly puffing the Vale were unable to press the accelerator down to the floorboards.

The Vale's performance late in the game was in sharp contrast to what had gone before and despite rattling at Sandbach's door, time became the major enemy for the visitors on a day when Vale Vikings won their first game of the season, 28-5, at home against Bury 2 and the B team broke their away duck with a 21-12 win against Burnley 2 to go into second place in their league.

Vale A: N Walker; M Barker, D Starkey, J Antcliffe, J Crinnion; S Coulshed, O Dobson; M Field, S Harrison, A Morrison; R Mudd, A Foxcroft; P McNeil, B Gross, R Randall. Replacements: S Quick, J Hodgkinson.