In the season that saw the sad demise of its founding member, it was fated that The Vale of Lune Ladies should run out onto the pitch for the Lancashire Cup Final, renamed by the RFU in recognition of Sue's influence across Lancashire Women's Rugby as a whole.

Ormskirk, however, playing two leagues below the Vale, had not read this particular script and the first 25 minutes of this final showed their grit and determination and they could hold up their heads as being deserving of their final place.

The Vale started strongly but the Ormskirk defence was resolute. The underdogs won a scrum five yards from the try line and their pack were hungry to gain those extra yards but the seasoned Vale stole the ball against the head for fly half Captain Julie Clegg to clear.

With play on the halfway line, Vale supporters may have expected the tide to turn in their favour but the Ormskirk de-fence were far from overshadowed and their pressure forced several handling errors in the Vale backs. Ormskirk produced a variety of quality kicks to pin back the Vale but were unable to capitalise.

Another scrum against the head, with Player of the Season scrum half Julie Walker doing her normal spoiling game granted the ball to number 8 Lol who, supported by Plunkett stretched the Ormskirk defence and gave the Vale their first real territorial advantage.

The Vale then had a period of encampment on the Ormskirk five-yard line and after three scrums Lol picked up from the base of the scrum to release Julie Walker for the first points of the day after 12 minutes.

The defensive roles played by Ormskirk took its toll as they lost a front row player through injury after 20 minutes. This was quickly followed by the loss of another try as a Vale scrum won the ball and passed quickly through the backs to the speedy Danielle Jeffrey to run in from 30 yards.

With 22 minutes on the clock and 10-0 down Ormskirk could have been forgiven for giving up but they had no such intention and following a dropped catch from the Vale and a successful line out the Ormskirk fly half showed her pace, creating space before off loading through the backs at speed to the left winger who managed to ground the ball despite the very close attention of Dannielle on the 25 minute mark.

Four minutes later Danni was able to show her own speed as she collected the ball from the ever energetic Emma Bolton, and scorched the remaining 25 yards to touch down in the corner.

As half time approached the 15:5 scoreline was far from expectations and the game was still in the balance.

The second half belonged to the Vale as their superior fitness took its toll on Ormskirk. Five minutes in, another winning scrum presented Danni with another chance to win a foot race from distance, this time touching down close to the posts to allow Julie Clegg the first conversion of the game.

The ever reliable Vale forwards continued to dominate the game, collecting ball in their own half by Sally Wilkinson who teamed up with Izzy and Lol to break the gain line before presenting the ball to full back Leanna to race home from 30 yards for another converted try.

With their heads up it was not long before winger Rhea got into the action with a spurt down the wing halted only by a tap tackle. The support play controlled the ball and Kat collected and scampered in for the sixth try, again comfortably converted by Cleggy.

Half way into the second half front row Izzy produced a power packed surge, ably supported by Kat which brought play into the Ormskirk 22 and the ensuing scrum allowed Julie Walker to feed Julie Clegg for a deserved try which she converted.

As the hard tackling by the powerful Vale forwards continued to break down the opposition play another player needed medical attention but managed to walk off shaken but not seriously hurt.

As play resumed a lovely show-and-go by Julie Walker opened the play once again but Ormskirk thwarted any further gains with their persistent defensive resilience.

As the game came to its dying moments Danni was able to grab her fourth and final try as Bollo again created the space for Danni to race the final half of the field to score.

Captain Cleggy again hit the spot to bring up the 50 points.

Collecting the Sue Garnett Cup form Sue's son Andy was a worthy end to a great but emotional season for the Vale ladies and justified their award as the Vale of Lune team of the year.

VALE: Izzy Howard, Nicky Clarke, Kathryn Jackson, Sally Wilkinson, Lol Kenny, Julie Walker, Julie Clegg, Emma Bolton, Dannielle Jeffrey, Ailsa Bunch, Leanna Plunkett, Kat Evans, Rhea, Lucy Holden, Aimee Proctor, Zoe Bayne.