THIS away fixture proved to be good preparation for the Vale youngters' up-coming EFE challenge cup quarter final.

Although the home side could only field 14 players, it did nothing to detract from a good physical encounter because Vale, as a gesture of good will, only played with an equal number.

From the first whistle Carlisle were determined to make their presence felt and a large pack tried to exert as much pressure as possible on Vale.

But the home side were noit prepared to counter the speed of the Vale back play and a break gave Arbon the first score in a game that looked like it would always be on a knife edge.

Carlisle threw all they had at the Vale team but sheer brute force was not going to be enough to break the defence, although on occasion it almost did.

It took some excellent team work to achieve the final tally but it was the forwards who worked the hardest to create the space for the backs to rack up the points.

Number eight Hobbs put his name on the score sheet for the forwards with some forceful running as the determination of Wilkinson, the close quarter ball handling of Moorby, Kingston and Ellis and the fantastic leg drives of Williams set the tone.

The scoreboard slowly ticked on with tries from Swarbrick and Hall, but it was a surprise that the home side had been unable to get theirselves on it after showing such grit throughout the game.

VALE: L Arbon(2 tries), M Crewdson, J Edwards, S Ellis, D Entwistle, H Fellows, D Hall (3 tries, 6 cons), J Hobbs (2 tries), R Kingston, S Moorby, T Ridley, J Skivington, C Swarbrick(1 try), T Vaughan-Jones, B Wilkinson, M Williams.