Rossendale vs Bury

A wintry March morning saw Rossendale Under-9s matched with Bury for their first competitive outing of 2012. As the snow swept almost horizontally across the barren expanse of the 'top pitch', the lads of the u9s team fought stoically against the cold to brave the elements, under Askew’s captaincy.

The recent training sessions indoors at Haslingden are clearly beginning to pay off, although the first half still saw a slow start resulting in a 4-1 deficit and some considerable angst amongst both players and coaches.

After an inspiring half-time tirade from Coaches Barnes and Cains, with sterling support from massed parental ranks, the team began the second period with renewed fervour and vigour. With some superb last gasp tackling on their own try line, backed up by gritty wrangling in the middle of the pitch, the boys pulled together to put over 5 tries to Bury’s 1, resulting in an epic 6-5 victory.

A superb result which, whilst not quite demonstrating perfection just yet, certainly showed great development, with a more cohesive approach and a fighting spirit that will surely lead to further improvements: Some green shoots of success amongst the last throws of winter, with man of the match going to Farrow this time out, for a fighting return to the field following a late injury.