SEDGLEY PARK...51 VALE OF LUNE...25 Lancashire Cup Final

CELEBRATING Sedgley Park's first ever 'double,' club president Geoff Roberts admitted that, despite being delighted to add the Lancashire Cup to the National Two championship won a week earlier, the County title was always second to league success - and will continue to be so.

"In the early rounds of the cup competitons we tend to play the second team as much as we can and strengthen when it suits us. For this game we strenghtened a bit more and it paid off," he explained.

"But we still had first team bench lads playing, like Dave Livesey, Paul Keys, Chris Wilkinson, Chris Leader, Stuart Campbell and Jonny Lowden, who all did the club proud, as did everyone involved in the game.

"Although this is the second time we've won the Lancashire Cup and it is an honour to do so, (the first was in the 2001-2002 season) our league standing always comes first.

"Next season we want to do as well as we can in National One, any cup competitions will always be secondary."

Vale had three points on the board inside two minutes, a penalty goal kicked by scrum-half James Moore, but Sedgley settled down and had much the better of the next half hour.

Vale's tackling was exemplary, but Ryno Ueckermann kicked a penalty goal as Sedgley applied pressure. Fifteen minutes into the game, centre Jim Naylor's elusive run brought the first try, followed by another from full-back Chris Glynn after a neatly worked move in the centre; 13-3 and all looking quite easy for Sedgley.

The Lancaster lads kept on playing, however, and were rewarded with a try in the corner by powerful winger Lee Penney, which Moore converted with a fine kick.

An Ueckermann penalty made it 16-10 at half-time.

Moore was on target again early in the second half, but Sedgley took the game away from Vale with two tries in quick succession.

Speedy, accurate handling by the backs put left wing Jonathan Lowdon over, and big Paul Arnold burst through with a typical run from half way. Both were converted and Sedgley led 30-13.

Another score seemed likely when Sedgley gained a 5-metre scrum; but they were penalised and quick-thinking Vale scored a spectacular 90 metre try from the tap-penalty, finished off by replacement full-back Andrew Miller.

Sedgley increased their lead with an Ueckermann drop-goal, but the penalty-count was beginning to rise against the Park boys, and a series of such awards led to a line-out and a well-worked narrow side try for Miller, again.

But any worries Sedgley might have had were quickly erased by a penalty goal and three late tries.

Naylor won the chase from his own kick ahead; Dave McCormack then scuttled over from a ruck near the line, rounding off a neatly worked line-out move; and finally lovely hands in the backs resulted in a try for right wing Ross Bullough.

Kern Yates took the conversion, his first and last for the club, and made a difficult kick look impossible!

He will be sorely missed next season, as he is leaving Park for Cleckeaton in National Three North, due to work commitments.

SEDGLEY: Glynn; Campbell, Naylor, Hassan, Lowdon, Ueckermann, Wilkinson, Roberts, Keys, Thomas, Arnold, Livesey, Leader, Lloyd, Yates.

Subs: de Jager, Bullough, McCormack, Lund, Senior.