SHOPPING excursions ahead of Mothering Sunday brought more traffic onto local highways and byways as people headed into town or to out of town garden centres.
But the flow was generally in one direction, very similar to play in the second half at
Powder House Lane where the Vale of Lune's second-half performance nearly produced "a snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" headline.
The Vale led 16-3 at half time after a superb display of exciting, imaginative rugby, a positive whirligig that hinted at more to come against a struggling Tyldesley side that were undone by pace.
But then the Vale supporters must have wondered if they had stumbled onto a Mack Stennett, "Keystone Cops" set in the second 40.
Somehow, with three wheels on their wagon and the scoreline having been narrowed to 16-8 in the 57th minute, the Vale were still rolling along, but Tyldesley were chasing them. A Neale Foster penalty with eight minutes remaining brought some relief but when another wheel fell off in the 76th minute the Vale's hopes were in flames as they clung onto a 19-15 lead.
The loss of lock forward Dan Perry, he injured his ankle as early as the fourth minute but battled on until half-time, certainly upset the balance of the scrum, as Tyldesley gained the upper hand, which seemed unlikely in the first half.
The Vale opened the scoring in the sixth minute. A snappy pass from Foster released Owens who easily outpaced the defenders for an unconverted try; Foster's conversion attempt hit an upright but did not glance over.
Four minutes later Foster thumped over a 40-metre penalty goal and with the Vale in total flowing command Foster added a second penalty in the 22nd minute. Shortly after a rare Tyldesley excursion into Vale territory resulted in a penalty which centre John Fisher kicked.
Vale quickly recovered from their blip and eased smoothly through the gears again. With 10 minutes remaining they added to their score. An efficient forward drive compressed Tyldesley on their line and on the unprotected blind side Lewis Leaumoana touched down, almost apologetically, for his first try for the Vale.
Tyldesley successfully tied the Vale into a mauling game, the ball was brought back into the forwards or stand off Tom Baker chipped it over the heads of the Vale defenders.
Whatever option was chosen petered out in a cul-de-sac, their play became fractured and riddled with mistakes.
Meanwhile Tyldesley stuck to their game plan and in the 57th minute they were rewarded when Fisher forced his way over for an unconverted try after his forwards had squeezed the Vale on their own line.
A successful Foster penalty with eight minutes remaining should have been the ideal tonic for a beleaguered Vale side, but the force was with Tyldesley.
As the clock ticked down, with a Vale victory just below the horizon, the home side were sent reeling with another Tyldesley jab. Centre Zak Sargent scooted over unopposed for a try converted by Fisher to bring the gap down to four points with less than four minutes left.
A panicky Vale conceded a penalty 10 metres out, off dashed scrum half Matt Souslby from a quickly taken tap, but in the heat of battle he had failed to hear the referee's whistle. In the ensuing mayhem tempers flared on the pitch and on the touchline, eventually order was restored and play resumed with a Tyldesley penalty at the original spot.
Vale rode their luck but despite the fact that some of their kicking and passing hardly inspired confidence they somehow managed to protect their line.
Hodder hoofed the ball long downfield and with Adam Macluskie alongside, gave chase. Tyldesley's winger was caught in possession; the ball was moved wide where the lurking Owens evaded a despairing tackle for his try.
Vale of Lune: M Stevens (A Macluskie 63); J Hodder, F Owens, I Bird, T Finau; N Foster, D Wilson; J Hesketh (L McLoughlin 75), A Powers, A Sutcliffe; L Acton (Capt), D Perry (S Wallbank 40); A Garnett, D Lin, L Leaumoana.
Match Sponsors: R G Parkins and Partners
Match Ball Sponsors: Border Asset Management
RUGBY ROUND UP
Lymm extended their lead at the top of North One West with a 10-7 win over at Broughton Park. Altrincham Kersal returned to second place following their 37-0 home victory over Sandbach, who lost their sixth game in succession.
Burnage were home winners against Liverpool St Helens, 18-10, who lost for the first time since the beginning of December.
Northwich returned to winning ways with a 22-9 victory at Aspatria, and Blackburn won their second game of the season at home against New Brighton, 24-21.
Wilmslow, who will play at Powder House Lane on Saturday, recorded a home win against Leigh, 27-23.
