07/10/2026
TIPPING THE VALE
FYLDE VANDALS (3rd XV) 69 : 17 VALE OF LUNE 2nd XV
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Back by unpopular demand is our latest match report. More annoying than finding the end of a roll of Sellotape is how some people may refer to them as, but here we are, back again to engage and enrage.
The Vandals got their season underway the previous week with a convincing win away to Manchester 2nd XV. The last couple seasons have seemed to be a bit of a purple patch for the Vandals side, and after two successive promotions, the challenges don’t ease off or get any easier.
Time for Vale of Lune 2nd XV to enter the chat and come to town for the Vandals first home game of the season.
A large segment of the Vandals side were present less than two years previously on the back pitch at Vale when their 3rd XV beat us by a single point at the end of a tight game before getting stuck into their rousing festive celebrations in the clubhouse.
Getting to the point, Vale sides have got the better of us before and always rock up with a strong physical pack and a speedy backline that can punish opposition for anywhere on the park.
Back to present times, and after the opening chess pieces were played in the latest game between the sides, our stand-in 10 Mulenga Chilufya got the first score of the game on the board, with conversion added. 7-0.
The away side were threatening and were awarded with a try of their own not long after. Extras missed. 7-5.
It was a case of copy and paste over the following 10mins as once the Vandals got another try on the board through powerful centre Stevie Durrant, the away side chalked one of their own onto the referee’s notepad. 14-12.
The game was in complete balance at this stage. Evenly matched at scrum time, and the home side found themselves ahead by a nose on the scoreboard.
If either side was going to tip the scales, they needed to find a way sooner rather than later.
Needing a bit of momentum, the hard-nosed, rock-solid headed Gregor Aiken broke through for a try of his own, soon after he was joined by winger Stephan Kuhn in the scorer’s column. Finally, a bit of breathing space. 26-12.
Needing some breathing space of his own, Gregor Aiken was sent for a 10min break by the referee after being deemed to have committed a high-tackle offence.
Vale didn’t need any further invitation and closed the gap further before the break with another try of their own.
HALF TIME 26-17.
Needing to steer the ship while down to 14-men, Richard Grocott got into the action notching a try of his own just when we needed it most, and in a flash, he repeated the action again to help put some light between the sides. 33-17.
Back up to a full complement and sensing blood, and much like the roll of Sellotape mentioned earlier, the Vandals started to tear strips out of the opposition at this stage.
Ryan Thornhill added a hat-trick of his own into the books, with our outhalf maestro Mulenga Chilufya adding another try after barrelling through the midfield, and not to be left out, no.8 Jamie Griffin was gifted a try as well to make him feel welcome to the party that he helped organise and decorate.
Despite being shown another yellow card, the home side finished strong. It really was a showing of where this side had come on over the last few years in many ways. This has been no fluke and is testament to the management and coaching setup that has been working wonders, and its great to see the fruits of their labour being on full display on a day like this.
There were too many great individual performances to mention outside of the try scoring list (sorry lads), but I’d be doing an injustice to not mention how much Sam Phillips had impressed on his latest outing. Hidden behind a quiet demeanour is a strong horse of a man.
Whenever he got on the ball, he caused destruction. It was actually quite scary seeing him being allowed to get a run up into contact on several occasions. It was that showing that it became noticeable in later stages of the match when the opposing defence looked to purposely give him some open channels to run into (and I didn’t really blame them to be honest).
Like a lot of young players were are delighting to have coming through the Vandals side, its great to see players improving and putting their hands up for honours higher up in the club - may regret saying that, but there is no doubt that we have a number of young players that will play at a higher level when their time comes.
FULL TIME 69 – 17
We go again in a couple weeks away to Rochdale, and as things stand, the top of the Division 1 table looks identical to the Division 2 table of last season with the Fylde Vandals chasing the strong Kendal 2nd XV side at the top of the tree.
Quickly, we hope that the injured Vale player makes a full recovery after leaving the field with what looked like a bad shoulder injury. It was also great to welcome Matty Kaye back to the Woodlands after all these years and wish his Vale side all the best for the rest of their season (asides when we run this back in their backyard in the New Year).
