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NOTHING BITTER ABOUT LEAGUE WIN NUMBER FIVE. VALE OF LUNE 15 BOWDON 3
NORTH TWO WEST The shelves on the beer section in the supermarkets always contain serried ranks of interestingly labelled brews. Goblins, Spitfires, Shirt Lifters, Witches, Bluebirds, Reindeer Breath, and there are many more, all have their special taste and stand expectantly awaiting for a budding Oz Clarke to give them the full treatment.
Bubbling and frothing through the pipes from the cellar cascaded the Vale's latest guest beer, Bryson's Quayside. This dark bitter caused a few raised eyebrows; was it Guinness? Mild? A bird? An aeroplane? It certainly was an aquired taste; some imbibers stayed the course, while others decamped to the Smooth Flow! It did however go down well with Derrick's Lamb Henry by the way.
For those that hung in there it was a rewarding experience, a little like watching the Vale over the past two months. Early October was pretty flat beer, but by the end of the month a new fermentation was beginning to take place. A young brew breathed fresh life into a product that had lost its fizz and by November the bottles in the crate contained a number of exciting little additions that were maturing along nicely. The process continued against Bowdon. Vale rattled into the opposition like a love-in for skeletons on a tin roof. James Knox blew the bung out of the flask when he charged down a kick on Bowdon's goal line. While the wing forward was inspecting the Raptor imprint on his face, John Bleasdale nipped in stoutly for his first try in his forty fifth appearance - well worth waiting for from a player who is more substance than froth. A half time scoreline of 5-3 suggested a balanced first half but failed to reflect the Vale's efforts against a strong wind. Unfortunately, Ian Bird collected a jaw injury that is going to side line him until the New Year, he stayed on till the end; drinking through a straw I fear, for Vale's man of steel.
Some of the sceptics pointed out that previously the Vale had not done so well with the wind, it could be a case of too much gas in the Isostar at half time, but they started the second half with full glasses. After fourteen minutes the coach brought on drayman Dave Halliwell to bulk up the front row and two minutes later the Vale extended their lead. Andy Miller shot down the wing as though he had knocked back a slug of Lucifer's Tail. James Bryan, who prefers the grape to the grain, slipped inside to take Andy's delicate pass. There was still plenty of work to do, but with both feet pointing in the right direction he hit the right spot, touching down between the posts. Andy Miller, still deputising for Andy Garnett, converted. Earlier in the half, Andy M had delighted his adoring fan club by treating them to one of his trademark all enveloping tackles, had he discovered a crate of Tackler's Tickle in the cellar? With eight minutes remaining he kicked a penalty goal but something Peculiar was going on. The coach urged Andy to get his hands on the ball and bang it into touch but his words of advice were hurtled away on the wind. On came the kicking tee, a placer gingerly steadied the ball, and the Vale's total increased three points.
Late in the game the wires were crossed again, this time the ball was booted away after a penalty had been awarded quite adjacent to the posts. Referee Ged Stone called time in fading daylight to leave the Vale undefeated in November, a feat well worthy of a toast. Glasses were raised in the clubhouse to Dan Perry, a worthy winner of the Bannister Bates bubbly as man of the match, but for others there were less exotic drinks to consume. In the meantime, a pint lies waiting on the Quayside, for on Saturday we set sail south, to Broughton Park, to quaff the Cream of Manchester. VALE OF LUNE: A.Miller, J.Bryan, A.Garnett, I.Bird, J.Curran, N.Bennetts (Capt), J.Bleasdale (Rep M.Walker 68), P.Jackson, D.Schuyler, A.Cowey (Rep D.Halliwell 54), D.Perry, M.Speight, J.Knox, D.Lin, M.Fowler. MATCH SPONSORS - PLAS TECH
BANNISTER BATES MAN OF THE MATCH - DAN PERRY |
