Vale of Lune 41 Wilmslow 17

WILMSLOW slipped to a third defeat in a row on Saturday as they fell victim to a virtuoso performance from Vale of Lune’s Damon Hall.

The Wolves felt the full force of Hall’s quality as the full-back ran in a hat-trick of tries as well as adding four conversions and a penalty for a personal haul of 26 points.

Rick Jones’ side had led at the break thanks to converted tries from Alex Donaldson and Ben Day and a Bob MacCallum penalty, but they were kept off the scoresheet in the second half as they played with the winds of Storm Brian firmly in their faces.

Victories for Warrington, Firwood Waterloo and Northwich meant the Wolves slipped into mid-table.

Playing with the wind in the first half, Wilmslow took just three minutes to get the scoreboard moving when, after the hosts infringed in the third minute, MacCallum booted over the resultant penalty.

However, Vale responded quickly and took the initiative when Jack Ferguson finished off a period of pressure with a try.

To their credit, Wilmslow hit straight back as Donaldson found his way across the whitewash.

Following a well-worked lineout, the Wolves rolling maul worked its magic and Donaldson was bundled over the line, with MacCallum adding the extras.

Jordan Dorrington profited from a quick-tap penalty to weave through an unprepared visiting defence and put Vale back in front, but Day ensured the last word of the opening period went to Wilmslow.

With seven minutes left of the half, the pack did well to recycle possession and Day found a gap in the home defence to crash over.

That score, plus MacCallum’s conversion, ensured a five-point lead at the interval for Wilmslow, but that was as good as it got.

Hall scored his first two tries of the game from kicks downfield, aided by the strong gusts, to effectively end the contest within 15 minutes of the restart.

The home full-back then added a penalty to give his side a 12-point lead before Sam Wallbank broke from the base of a scrum for Vale’s fifth try.

Fittingly, it was Hall who had the final say from another kick and chase to round off the scoring and complete Wilmslow’s misery.

The result against the league leaders, who have won all seven of their league games this season, drops the Wolves to sixth in the North One West table after they had previously lost to second-placed Stockport and bottom side St Benedicts.

Another struggling side provide the opposition on Saturday as Rochdale visit the Memorial Ground, kick off 3pm.