Vale of Lune back to winning ways with Altrincham Kersal victory

MATCH REPORT: Vale of Lune 24 Altrincham Kersal 19

A pleasantly warm afternoon at Powder House Lane as the Vale welcomed old rivals Altrincham Kersal for this NW2 mid-table clash.

With senior combatants Damon Hall and Sam Wallbank restored to the Vale side, pre-match confidence was high.

The energetic Chris Ramwell celebrated his 150th Vale first team appearance with another masterful performance. 

The Vale claimed ground from AK from the off, keeping the visitors pinned down and denied all contact with the ball.

Alex Briggs tested the AK defences with pin-point kicks into the corners for the Vale wingers to chase.

It took some clever interplay on the left flank, with Jack Batty at the hub of it, to allow Ramwell to cut through for the first try.

The second was a forwards' move, overcoming all resistance with a driving maul for Wallbank to touch down. 

It was 25 minutes in when AK organised themselves into attack formation. Their big prop found a gap to score in the left corner.

The Vale were spurred on to resume their earlier territorial advantage. The driving maul proved too much for AK, who illegally impeded the maul. The referee awarded a penalty try, bringing the half-time score to 19-5 to the Vale.  

It was Altrincham who came out with renewed purpose, making gradual gains up the centre of the field and stretching the Vale into making errors. A quick tap penalty by the AK scrum-half caught Vale out.

The final pass to the flanker to score in the left corner was a setback for the Vale, but their response was most emphatic. Another coordinated forwards' manoeuvre was topped off with a try from Andy Powers to maintain the healthy lead. 

As the last 10 minutes were reached, AK had another surge of effort, resulting in a try between the posts. The lead which the Vale had worked hard to build was suddenly worryingly narrow.

They hung on with grim determination, making the best of some careless handling by AK at moments of high potential. Knowing that the clock had passed the required 80 minute, prop Archie Fowler, marking his 20th birthday, ripped the ball from the fingers of the AK pack, and allowed the Vale to kick it away to safety. 

The recent pair of disappointing results was consigned to history as the Vale took four league points and a bonus point for scoring four tries. AK had to settle for one bonus league point for being less than seven points adrift.

Next week sees the Vale take to the road once more, heading for Burnage RUFC in South Manchester.

Team:    A. Fowler, A. Powers, G. Oyston, H. Fellows, M. Goodman, H. Dokter, J. Ayrton (c), S. Wallbank, J. Batty, J. Silverwood, C. Murrell, C. Ramwell, A. Bolton, D. Hall, A. Briggs.    Reps.  M. Mount, D. Leighton, I. Turton.