Preview of Vale of Lune v Fylde in the Lancashire Cup  

Fylde travel the short distance to old friends and rivals Vale of Lune on Sunday, 7th March (ko 15.00), in the 2nd Round of the Lancashire Cup in an attempt to secure their sixth successive victory. 

The Vale of Lune Rugby Union Football Club was formed 103 years ago in March 1900 and played on various pitches in the Lancaster area. After the Second World War the Club purchased the picturesque green fields alongside Powder House Lane, midway between Lancaster and the resort of Morecambe. The main pitch has the largest playing surface in the country. Powder House Lane became a firm favourite for Lancashire in their pursuit of the County Championship. Three major high-profile fixtures were played on the wide-open spaces and the ground was filled to capacity for the final against Gloucestershire in February 1980 and the semi-final, against the same county, in March 1987. Lancashire won on both occasions but on an icy December afternoon in 1981 they were defeated by the touring Australians.

The Club fields four senior rugby teams, a Colts XV, a Ladies XV, and no less than eleven mini and junior sides regularly don the famous cherry-and-white hooped jerseys of the ‘Vale’. For many, many years Fylde and Vale played each other on a regular basis. They were both in the old Merit Table Three in the 1980s and early 1990s. At the onset of league and then professional rugby in the mid-1990s the fates of the clubs diverged. Fylde yo-yoed between National One and Two whilst Vale fell down the league structure dramatically. 

Vale's decent of the leagues ended in North Two (West) at which stage they were three RFU levels below Fylde. Their fortunes changed in 2002/3 when they were champions of North Two (West) and had an outstanding season. Meanwhile, Fylde were relegated to National Three (North) so three levels difference became one in the current season. The famous Vale and Lancashire fly-half/fullback Andy Higgin became Chairman of Rugby and hired ex-Fylde coach and highly successful ex-Vale winger Mark Nelson in 2002. Nelson's influence has resulted in substantial team building and a tangible improvement in the standard of rugby played at the Club.

The undoubted star of the playing squad was versatile young half-back James Moore. He is an outstanding prospect and is a member of the Sale Sharks Jets and Academy set-up. He has also made his name with the English Counties squad and has fitted in to playing with National One and Two players with little difficulty. He is a fluent try scorer, has pace to spare and is also a reliable goal kicker. He has scored almost 200 points this season at a rate similar to Fylde's Mike Scott. However, he played his last game for Vale a couple of weeks ago as he's been called up into the Sharks main squad. He will be sorely missed.

Vale's club captain is ex-Fylde winger/centre Ian Bird. He made his name at Vale and then moved to the Woodlands for the 1998/9 season before switching back the following year. Another old Fylde favourite is ex-Lancashire & North of England flanker Anthony Ireland, an outstanding talent who's career has been blighted by injury. He had two spells at the Woodlands (the last one between 1996-2000 seasons) with a period at Waterloo sandwiched in between. He returned to his original club, Vale, last season for a number of games and has made eleven full appearances and four as a replacement this campaign. But he has missed recent matches through another injury. 

Apart from James Moore who scored eight league tries, the other major contributors to date are flanker Gavin McHugh (4 tries) and England Under 19 (& Lancaster RGS) star lock Sean Cox (4), pictured right. Cox was last seen by Fylde followers as part of the victorious England U'19 team which beat Scotland at the Woodlands in January. Fullback Ian Brookes and wing James Bryan have also scored four league tries to date.

Fylde take a strong line-up to Powder House Lane. Although still badly affected by injuries, and with Lawrence Condon (damaged ribs) and Matt Filipo (back) joining the casualty list following last Saturday's win at Darlington, they are still able to name two thirds of the side that won in the North east. Hooker Alex Moffatt is cup-tied following an earlier appearance for 'Hoppers whilst Grant Ferguson and Os Van der Walt are still sidelined despite their injuries having improved.

There's a completely new half-back pairing with Ben Godfrey taking over from a rested Mike Scott at No 10 (he'll also be goal kicker) and Mike Macfarlane stepping in for the injured Lawrence Condon and unavailable Martin Wallwork. Normal Wanderers scrum-half Matt Wilkinson is ruled out with an injured shoulder. Ex-Glasgow Hawks player Macfarlane has had few opportunities at 1st team level, partly due to his demanding work commitments. He's played regularly for the Wanderers this season but mainly at centre or wing.

Amongst the replacements, its good to see the 1st team return of Ed Scott who badly damaged a knee when coming on as a substitute against Esher in September 2002. University of Central Lancashire's talented trio, hooker Chris Lowden, flanker Steve Brownlow and no 10/fullback Phil Macey, are also on the bench and can expect to see some match action.  

15 Richard Kenyon; 14 David Wiseman, 13 Karl Long, 12 Paul Reeves, 11 Mark Evans; 10 Ben Godfrey, 9 Mike Macfarlane; 1 Steve Ellis, 2 Ben Bullough, 3 Neil Hilton, 4 Jon Taylor, 5 Greg Johnson, 6 Mark Briggs, 7 Paul Bamber, 8 Roger Banks.

Replacements: 16 Ed Scott, 17 Chris Lowden, 18 Tim Wyles, 19 Steve Brownlow, 20 Phil Macey, 21 Mike Scott

Skipper Dylan O'Grady has had a scan on the knee he injured against Liverpool St. Helens and its shown no visible damage.

5th March 2004