Due to a player shortage Wilmslow 2 arrived without a recognised prop forward with the scrums becoming uncontested throughout, a blow to Vale's eight but was no handicap for the visitors who scored an unconverted try after five minutes.
Vale quickly regrouped and assessed the situation that confronted them and with Liam Hall posing a constant threat in all areas when his strength was used to telling affect. Alfie Bolton was brim full of running and his pace ended with a try which Ryan Busby converted as the first quarter was drawing to a close.
Uncontested scrums appeared to suit Wilmslow more than Vale whose pack were kicking their heels because they were unable to display their grappling skills at the coal face. In addition Wilmslow's speedy backs made maximum use of a steady supply of ball. A series of Vale errors in the build up led to another Wilmslow try.
Vale pressed straight from the restart, lock Dom Lane, on his debut, snapped up a bouncing ball, arrowed a pass to Reuben Orr who touched down close to the posts, “Buzzer” added the conversion.
The forwards, not having to expend their energies in scrums injected extra pace in the wide open spaces which skipper Joe Stevens relished as did Liam Hall, while Martin Davenport came more and more into the game. Shane Weed proved very elusive, working in harmony with his fellow back rower, Brad Goss, who soared at the line outs and provided scrum half Reuben Orr with clean ball to work with.
Half backs Reuben and Joe Wills grew in confidence, Jamie Antcliffe was always available to take the pressure off and also ensured that the concentration remained high in free flowing entertaining game that kept the cold at bay. Harrison Dodge displayed a turn of speed on the wing while Ryan Fawcett was always on hand to defuse any dangerous situations.
Play at times was fast and furious, both defences had to be alert in the face of swift counter attacks but when Vale missed a number of tackles Wilmslow pounced for another unconverted try.
Joe Stevens, lifted his troop's spirits when he battled his way over for a try converted by “Buzzer.” Team Boss, Dan Rainford brought on Matti Short who in the blink of an eyed scored an unconverted try nut he was forced to leave the action later with a recurring hamstring strain.
Wilmslow always posed a threat and before the final whistle added a couple more unconverted tries but Vale consolidated their lead with a Reuben Orr try converted by Ryan Fawcett.
On the evidence of the seconds performance against Wilmslow they are developing into a very impressive unit, the odd errors require attention, but providing the squad remains injury free and does not loose too many players to the first team they should be in good shape to take on Stockport and Kendal, both tough fixtures, before the end of the year.
Team: E Hutchinson, M Davenport, J Stevens (Capt.); D Lane, T Needham; S Weed, L Hall, B Gross. R Orr, J Wills; H Dodge, A Bolton, J Antcliffe, R Fawcett; R Busby. Reps: M Short, J Wyke, P Alexov.

Thanks to Fred Swarbrick for his words and Tony North for the graphic photographs.