Furness Vale ease to win at top of Hope Valley League

The persistent rain did not dampen the spirits of either team and this entertaining, hard fought match was a good watch for the spectators who had braved the weather.

From the kick off, last years champions Vale were as relentless as the rain, pressing the ball and forcing Chapel onto the back foot.

The Furness midfield duo of O’Brien and Simon Lomas dominating the centre, winning the first and second balls and quickly finding the wide men.

The constant Vale pressure eventually led to the opening goal, the faultless Seddon picked up a loose ball on the Chapel left and drove a ferocious low cross which was cleverly turned in by Wood (N). Vale did not let up and after more pressure led to a corner taken by Anderson, Lomas (S) rose majestically to power a header into the the top corner.

Despite the first half being only 20 minutes old Chapel were hanging on desperately trying to hold back a rampant vale, but they could not hold back the tide and more Vale pressing led to a mistake which let in Wood (J) on the left and he made no mistake in rifling the ball into the bottom corner of the Chapel goal.

Chapel hung on and managed to go into the half time break only 3 nil down when it really could have been double that score.

Like the torrential rain Vale did not let up in the second half, first to the ball and passing sharply and accurately they continued to give Chapel the runaround. Only last ditch defending and good fortune keeping the goal tally at three, but it could not last and another pinpoint cross into the Chapel penalty area saw Lomas (B) soar above the defence and flick a deft header into the Chapel net, completing the scoring for Vale and completing what was a comprehensive and dominant victory over one of their main rivals for this season’s title.