Meden Vale arrived at Ollerton full of confidence following an excellent performance at home the previous weekend in the cup, and were determined to carry on their form into this, their first League clash with their intense local rivals of the season.

Across the park, Vale were able to put out arguably their strongest side, barring a few enforced changes to the front row - Veteran Chris Guy started at hooker in place of the in-form, but sadly absent, Danny Davies, and regular tighthead prop Chris Lee was unable to start the game, enabling Willy Murphy to rekindle his love for that position, with Liam Slinn moving a row forward to occupy the loosehead berth. John Pettinger returned to the second row along with Ashley Short, and new lad Joe Williams joined a talented back row with captain Ross Emery and number 8 Jim Smith. David Ellison returned from injury to take up his scrum half jersey, with Jake Mason, Steve Sheppard and Brad Rhodes in the midfield. Dan Wilkinson and Ash Davies took their positions on the wing and Jez Dawson looked to carry on his impressive season from Full back.

Vale advanced from the off and exerted pressure on Ollerton both in open play and at the scrums. Mason and Short both took the ball forward with relish and an unlikely offload from Guy put the captain in under the posts for the first score of the day, converted by Rhodes. Despite Ollerton making their presence felt more and more at scrum time, Vale continued to advance and pressure the Ollerton line, with a second score coming quickly as Guy picked and drove for the line from close proximity. Once again Rhodes added the extras.

Ollerton, as everyone knew they would, came back strongly at Vale and some sloppy defending allowed their first score of the afternoon, which remain unconverted, however Vale quickly responded and once again found themselves near the Olleron try line. A rebounded lineout throw fell into the hands of Guy who, after what could charitably be described as a spot of juggling, went over in the corner and was awarded his second try of the game, which would remain unconverted.

Another strong response from Ollerton yielded another score, under the posts and duly converted, before Vale added a fourth, and bonus point securing, try through Ellison before the break. This was also converted and at half time the visitors lead by 26 points to 12.

A few adjustments were made by Vale during the break, with Chris Lee coming into the tighthead position for the second half, Slinn dropping back to the second row and Williams coming off after a strong first half performance. Vasper replaced Ellison at scrum half and the game was resumed with an almost immediate breakthrough by Ollerton to add another 5 points to their total. Upon the resumption, second row Pettinger made a tackle so early you'd think he'd already put his watch back by an hour, and the ensuing sin binning left Vale reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes with considerable work to do. Ollerton did not fail to capitalise on this advantage and continued to exert pressure upon the Vale men. A well worked try move saw the score move to 24-26, and secured a bonus point for Ollerton in the process.

Restored to their full compliment, though, Vale took control of the game after a very nervy 3rd quarter - Lee's presence in the scrummage proved enough to give Vale their advantage back and the strong ball carrying of Short and Mason took Vale deep into Ollerton territory. Under pressure at their own scrummage, a loose ball fired back over the try line sat up perfectly for Ross Emery, and he added his second score of the game which was then converted by Short. Still more work was required by the Vale men though, with ten minutes remaining and a gap of 9 points. A tap penalty taken by Short and powerful taken up toward the line gave Vale the chance they needed - the forward pack used their strength to best advantage and, to complete his hattrick, Guy took responsibilty for the final drive and powered over the line. With the game now secure, Vale were happy to wind down the clock for the final five minutes and Ollerton seemed resigned to defeat. Contests between the two local sides are always fierce, but more often than not, played in fine spirit and saturday was no exception. Final Score Ollerton 24 - 36 Meden Vale