There has been plenty to ponder from a season that was divided into two distinct halves.

The season opened with defeat at New Brighton, 27-26 but the first home game against a workmanlike Rochdale gave a glimpse of the future as the visitors eased themselves to a 25-10 win.

It was an injury-hit Vale side that lost 22-17 at Winnington Park and a barren month ended with a second home defeat, this time 22-12 to Broughton Park.

After the game the Vale parted company with coach Dave Kidd, with Mark Sutcliffe taking over.

Mark's first game in charge was against fellow strugglers Northwich but the Vale were unable to impose themselves on their first visit to Moss Farm, losing 20-5.

Following the home defeat by Durham City, 23-14, in the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup, all the focus could be challenged into getting to grips with the unfolding nightmare of relegation.

The gap between the top and bottom clubs was brought into sharp focus with a hammering at Chester, 72-10, the Vale's heaviest league defeat since March 1995.

Against Tyldesley, the Vale won their first league game since February, 34-0, but next time out at Leigh, the Vale fell apart, losing 28-3 and then lost 50-5 at home to league leaders, Stockport.

There were encouraging signs for the Vale at Lymm in a 29-7 defeat but the next week they let a 20-19 lead slip in the closing minutes to Sandbach.

The spirit had been good and this continued at Stockport where the leaders had to work hard for their 22-5 victory and going into the New Year there were positive vibes ahead of a daunting second half of the season.

First up were Leigh, and Vale showed they were a much fitter side and far more composed as they won 14-12; a result followed by their only away win of the season, 13-6 at Tyldesley.

Next up was a 34-11 defeat to Chester but the focus was on a crunch fixture with main rivals Northwich at Powder House Lane. Northwich led 7-3 going into injury-time only for powerful centre Craig Orrick to crash his way over for a try that took Vale clear of the drop zone for the first time in the season.

A defeat at Broughton Park, 30-26, put them back in the bottom three but a home win against Winnington Park, 43-17, saw the situtation reversed with four fixtures remaining.

There was a dramatic set of results next up as the Vale fell 11-8 at Rochdale while Northwich won at home against Stockport to regain the advantage.

TheVale responded with their best performance of the season, a 20-12 victory against a strong New Brighton side, and followed this up with a win over Lymm, Orrick again scoring a key try.

As Northwich won at home against Rochdale, the Vale knew that even if they won at Sandbach, it would not be enough if the Northwich won at Leigh.

The game at Sandbach proved a bridge too far for the Vale and they went down 26-15, but their disappointments were slightly tempered with the news that Northwich had won at Leigh.

The Vale should feel proud of their achievements in the second half of the season. Few will forget the feeling of trepidation as kick-off time approached in those remaining 10 make-or-break games.

My how they did fight as they battled their way through to a thrilling climax, which few thought possible at the end of December.

Fifty-five players, including replacements, represented the first team in league, cup, club fixtures and warm-up games, an increase of 14 over the previous season, but at various times they were without Ian Bird, Neil Bennetts, Malcolm Fowler, Danny Lin and Dan Perry.

There were 20 debutants, a few managed to stay the course, but others struggled to cope with the step up to first team rugby.

For the second year in succession, prop Phil Jackson made the most appearances with 24. Dave Halliwell, for the third season on the trot, was Vale's 'super sub', coming off the bench 12 times as well as making eight starts.

The try count of 65 equalled last season and included a penalty try; 37 tries were converted, three up on the previous season, while the 20 penalty goals were the same as 2006-07.

The mercurial James Hodder was the leading try score with 10 and Danny Lin the most prolific forward with five. The impressive Adam Armstrong headed the points list with 96 (two tries, 19 conversions and 16 penalties).

The most successful of the Vale's senior sides were the Ladies, their efforts being rewarded by being named Team of the Season.

Having been relegated the previous season, the Vale finished second in North One and were convincing winners of the Sue Garnett Lancashire Cup with a 50-5 victory over Ormskirk.

The death of the inspirational Sue Garnett after her brave battle with cancer in October overshadowed the season but the whole squad responded with a renewed sense of purpose and spirit that produced a winning sequence of 10 games.

It had been an emotional season for the Ladies but their attitude and commitment to training and on match days made a huge impact on coach Phil Stott, who was full of praise and admiration for a dedicated squad.

Like the ladies, the A team benefited hugely from dropping down a level. Confidence returned to what is still basically a young squad; their fifth place in the Miller Homes Division One was a superb achievement.

The double was achieved against Rochdale, Wirral, Leigh and Preston Grasshoppers 4th, and although they lost the return game against champions Kendal at the end of the season they did record a 5-3 victory at Mint Bridge in December.

After the trials and tribulations of the previous season when only six games were won, the squad responded to the vision and enthusiasm of Tony Gilmour.

Both the Vikings and B team were relegated, with both teams falling away after making promising starts.

By Christmas, the Vikings had won eight and drawn one of their 16 games and were fourth in Division Two. From January to the end of April they were to win only three more games to end the season third off the bottom.

After a bright opening to Division Three North, three wins and a draw from six games the B Team, after their home draw against BAE Warton at the beginning of October, had to wait until the first Saturday in January to pick up further points at home to Ormskirk.

The B team struggled to break out of the relegation zone, but they won three of their last four games, including what they thought was a must-win game at Bolton only to have their hopes dashed in the reorganisation of the leagues.

Injuries and unavailability affected both teams throughout the season and on occasions they had to make do and mend with players forced to play out of position, making it extremely difficult for any consistency to be achieved – a frustrating situation for respective captains, Aaron Melville and Paul Antcliffe.

A relegated rugby player's lot is not a happy one, but the Vale of Lune have got to pick themselves up, dust themselves down and take comfort from the Ladies and A Team, who both bounced back from their disappointments of the previous season.