Vale won their first Bateman BMW Premier League game of the season with a polished stylish display at The Upper Park that had their supporters purring. An experienced Vale side made an excellent start when Jamie Antcliffe crossed for a fifth minute try after Ross Pillow had foraged for the ball, Neil Walker added the conversion. (Humble apologies Neil for getting your Christian name wrong in recent match reports.)

Four minutes later Tom Cvijanovic, who sparkled throughout, added a second, again converted by Walker. Vale dominated the early exchanges with skipper Oli Cowey leading from the front and setting a fine example, the scrum was rock solid, the defence dealt with the odd attack that came their way, occasionally a first up tackle was missed but for the majority of the half the Vale held all the aces.

Jimmy Birchall touched down in the eighteenth minute with a decisive turn of speed that took him away from a number of would be tacklers. Prop Joe Stevens, who improves with every outing, blasted his way over with the minimum of ceremony for a special forward's try converted by Walker in the twenty fourth minute.

Just before the interval, and from a rare excursion into Vale's half of the field Birkenhead Park collected a converted try and this score visibly lifted the home side who made a confident start to the second half. Errors started to creep into the Vale's game, while a number changes in personnel disrupted their rhythm.

A solo try from David Haigh converted by Walker in the fifty third minute helped to stabilise the Vale and they were able to kick on from this point to consolidate a much needed victory. The Vale took full advantage in the closing ten minutes of the game when Park had two players in the sin bin, Mike Barker plundering a brace of tries converted by Kieron Doyle.

In an encouraging all round team performance, Danny Lin and Mike Barker were outstanding in the back row, prop Ross Pillow played an important role in both the tight and loose in a victory that was the cause for celebration for the visitors.