For those wandering into Vale of Lune's clubhouse on a wet, windy,s cold October afternoon might have been forgiven if they thought they had stumbled upon a crèche.

Recently born infants were in abundance being proudly cradled by doting grandparents and mums and dads alike, proving it is never too early to learn.

And while all the billing and cooing was taking place, the Vale could also celebrate extending their unbeatne run to four games and opening a two-point lead at the top as closest rivals, Kirby Lonsdale, had their game postponed.

Both sides, plus referee David Harvey, are to be congratulated on helping to produce an absorbing contest which was much appreciated by the huddled masses in the stand and a few hardy souls on the touchlines.

After three fixtures played on firm pitches and under a warm sun the meteorological contrasts were enormous, the orange, LED destination board on the visitor's coach pierced the gloom throughout the afternoon.

The Vale had shown a healthy appetite for pinging the ball about with the sun on their backs, but how would they cope when Mother Nature went into a sulk?

Well on the evidence of their performance against Aldwinians they look equally at home when the going is soft.

The pack, despite their overall youthful profile is pretty solid in the sets and hungry in the loose. Wing forward Marc Aboud was outstanding and was rightly voted man of the match by his teammates.

In the backs, the Craig Orrick-Ian Bird juggernaut appears to work well regardless of the terrain, all they did was to select four wheel drive and away they went.

Another player who indulged in some effective straight line running was Neale Foster, who took over at fly-half when Neil Bennetts hobbled off with a hamstring injury after 10 minutes.

All three, Bird, Orrick and Foster, also threw in the odd dummy and sidestep, absolute dynamite for the opposition to react too on a pitch where any type of grip was at a premium.

Aldwinians as was expected, proved to be doughty opponents, and the two tries the Vale conceded will now doubt be analysed by the coaching staff.

The visitor's opening try, which incidentally gave them a 7-5 half-time lead, came after a long spell of Vale pressure, but lack of discipline and unconvincing defending allowed Aldwinians to put their noses in front.

A second try from Aldwinians after an hour caught the Vale out of position and they were unable to muster enough forces to plug all the gaps.

But overall the Vale held sway and tactically they made more effective use of the strong wind which blew from the clubhouse end throughout.

Straight from the kick-off, the Vale battled their towards Aldwinians' line and after eight minutes scrum-half Owen Hughes darted away from a scrum for an unconverted try.

Considering the conditions, the game was not as error-strewn as one would have expected, although the Vale appeared to have erred when they opted to run a penalty that looked within Foster's range; perhaps the advice from the touchline was whisked away by the wind.

In the 35th minute, the Vale fell behind to a try from prop forward, John Edwards who rumbled over from close range after passage of uncharacteristic rugby from the Vale; stand-off James Worrall converted.
Vale came back determinedly, trapping Aldwinians in their 22 after a long penalty attempt from Foster fell short.

Aboud was onto the Aldwinians player, Bird and Dave Halliwell both went for the line and only grim defending kept them out.

Three minutes into the second half, a penalty from Foster edged the Vale into a one-point lead which was enhanced four minutes later.

The Vale were awarded a scrum 20 metres out. Off the base, raced Malcolm Fowler, a kiss-curl of mud a la Bill Haley on his forehead, in an arcing run that contained a vintage dummy for a try converted by Foster.
The Vale tightened their grip when Orrick blasted his way over after a planned move in the centre had worked to perfection, Foster converted from in front.

But as the hour mark approached, Aldwinians took full advantage of some loose play from the home side to grind their collective way forward before centre Dave Taylor burst away for an unconverted try.

Foster made a break before his perfectly-weighted pass sent Orrick careering over for his second which Foster converted from in front in the 63rd minute to stunt the Aldwininians revivial.

Lee Farnworth left the action with a scalp wound and the highly-promising Leon Jackson came into the front row with Halliwell moving into the second row. making for some interesting scrums.

Next up are bottom-of-the-table Burnley but the trip to Holden Road cannot be taken lightly, we can all remember what happened to Little Boy Blue, "Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?/ He's under a haycock/ Fast asleep."

Vale of Lune cannot afford to doze off because they might find that "Here comes a chopper to chop of your head."

Vale of Lune: N Foster; A Richards, I Bird, C Orrick, J Hodder; N Bennetts (Capt) (Rep L Jones 10), O Hughes; P Jackson, G Barton, D Halliwell; L Farnworth (Rep L Jackson 75), D Perry (Rep L Acton 57); M Aboud, D Lin, M Fowler.

Man of the match: Marc Aboud.

Match sponsors: Friends of the Vale.

Matchball sponsors: Border Asset Management.

* THE Vale A team established their lead at the top of Miller Homes Division One with a much-deserved win at Wigan, 24-5.