Vale of Lune 28
Burnley Thirds 36

BRILLIANT Burnley 3XV clinched promotion into the Raging Bull Division Four North as they ran in a late try to beat Vale of Lune on Saturday.

The locals were determined to recover from the shock of last weekend’s defeat to basement boys Ormskirk when they travelled up the M6 to Lancaster.

Burnley were buoyed by the return of a couple of players who had last week off and this provided the push that they needed to win this match.

Vale of Lune had beaten Burnley earlier in the season and thought they had a chance again so looked hungry for the win.

The game started poorly for Burnley with Vale of Lune running strongly from the first kick off.

This provided the first score with a penalty for an infringement at the breakdown.

Strong running from the centre Jackson Linford was again causing problems and he was just too strong and ran 30 yards to score Burnley’s first try.

This seemed to be a day for the centres as Vale’s impressive pairing both scored from good runs, but Burnley kept resolute and trusted their set piece play.

This allowed them to move into the Vale 22 and a well worked move between John Paul Walton and Craig Hardy sent Craig crashing over for a try.

At half time Burnley were trailing by four points but felt confident in how they were playing.

The second half was very open with both sides exchanging the lead with some good open rugby.

John Paul Walton scored a try in the corner but injured himself in the process which meant that Anthony Clarke moved into scrum half and allowed Dominic Leck to crash over for a try under the posts.

Burnley were now leading by eight points and were in control of the set pieces but Vale of Lune’s centres were elusive and grabbed a couple of tries back which spurred Burnley back into action.

Paddy Murphy crashed over, from 30 yards and a penalty pushed Burnley two points clear with 10 minutes to go.

The dangerous running from Vale of Lune meant that they could score from anywhere and that Burnley couldn’t lose concentration, quick handling and nifty footwork allowed Ash Nuttall to get over for the final score and eventually the win that meant they are promoted.

And now they are aiming to push on for the title.