With two games to go, Saints travelled to Vale of Lune, Lancaster, for their last away fixture of the season.
Although mid-table Vale have a very good home record and were boosted by a very decent crowd as it was their past players and sponsors lunch, it was Saints who opened the scoring with a try from Liam Sadler who went in at the corner after the pack made good yardage driving up the middle. The conversion was missed, however; 0-5.
Vale struck back within three minutes. After a quick line out the winger went in to level the scores.
Saints forwards were starting to find good yards with relentless pressure which allowed Andy Cummins space to slide through and score; not a day for goal kickers – missing again 5-10.
Yet again, Vale, encouraged by the vocal home crowd, chased down a missed pass and touched down in the corner; conversion missed.10-10.
From a scrum 20m out, Fred Clarke powered up the pitch before slipping the ball to Tommy Banks who scored in the corner. The conversion was missed, leaving the score at 10-15 at half time.
Straight from the restart, Saints used its forward power to drive up the pitch, and Fred Clarke, voted Man of the Match by the Vale past players, drove through four Vale players to touch down; converted by Andy Cummins.
Vale responded by kicking a penalty to make it 13-22, but Saints now had victory in their sights and after a quick tap penalty by Rob o’Donnell, Andy Cummins went over the whitewash for his second of the afternoon, closely followed by a break by James O which saw him go under the sticks converted and making the score 13-32.
Saints speedy winger, Joel Ashton, made a good break after more solid work from the forwards, and squeezed in at the corner for a try, unconverted 13-39, and making it near impossible for Saints to lose.
Two more scores put the game safely to bed with tries from Danny Salisbury at the back of a driving maul and Jack Sanders in at the corner to round off a very good second half. Final score 13-51.
With five points in the bag, Saints can only lose the title on goal difference. Taking into account that they are 150 plus better goal difference than second-placed Bowden, who are 5 points behind them, it is unlikely they will not win the title. However, there were no celebrations from the players, officials, or supporters until it is confirmed on Saturday’s last home game of the season.
Image: Derek Salisbury Snr
Vale of Lune
15 Benjamin Walker
14 Jordan Fern
13 Oliver Jacques
12 Christopher Ramwell
11 Harrison Dodge
10 Jonathan Silverwood
9 Jacob Thomas
1 James Bonia
2 Owen Branford
3 Ross Pillow
4 Joe Harrison
5 Joe Wallbank
6 Louis Evans
7 Samuel Peters
8 Alfie Bolton
Vale of Lune Subs
S1 George Oyston
S2 Samuel Lester
S3 Jack Batty
Anselmians
15 Adam Bramhall
14 Thomas Banks
13 Liam Sadler
12 Ransford Otutaha
11 Joel Ashton
10 Andrew Cummings
9 George Manger
1 Kostja Vezanovs
2 Daniel Salisbury
3 Derek Salisbury
4 Samuel Gregory
5 Fred Clark
6 Jack Sanders
7 Thomas Gilbert
8 William Grabe
Anselmians Subs
S1 Robert O’Donnell
S2 Jack Richards
S3 Joseph Spencer
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