Tyldesley U10s 20 - 15 Rossendale U10s

It appeared that the Rossendale weather had followed a depleted U10s team to Tyldesley on Sunday morning. Fortunately, the wet & windy conditions eased before kick-off, and Tyldesley kindly donated one of their players to play for Rossendale to even up the teams.

The game started with some great to and fro rugby with strong attacking and good defending by both sides. With some good runs with nice supporting play, Tyldesley took the lead with their first try. Rossendale’s pack dominated the scrum, to the extent that they went uncontested on safety grounds. Soon after, Tyldesley were denied a certain try by a fantastic, last-ditch tackle by the loan player, Matt, just a couple of metres from the line. The game continued to move from end to end. The Rossendale attack alternated between strong surging drives by the forwards and fast weaving runs, but all were countered by strong defence from Tyldesley. After one more try for Tyldesley, the first half ended 10-0 to the home side.

The start of the second half caught Rossendale napping, when the Tyldesley attack broke through Rossendale’s defensive line straight from the kick-off to score. Unbowed, Rossendale kept up the pressure until they won a line-out 5m from the Tyldesley line. Unfortunately, the home team nicked the ball and ran nearly the full length of the pitch to score. Rossendale stepped up a gear at this point, with more driving runs from Isaac & Matt and some solid defending and were rewarded with a try for Matt shortly afterwards. This seemed to give ‘Dale a confidence boost, as a couple more tries followed, from Tom and Henry, to end the game 20-15.

Player of the Match:

The real Player of the Match award needs to go to the loan player Matt, who gave it his all against his own team. Thanks Matt and Well Done.

Coaches Thoughts

After the disappointment against Bury a couple of weeks ago, it was great to see the spirit return and for the performance from the ‘Dale boys and girl. It made me proud to see them fighting back the way they did. They never gave up, and worked hard throughout the whole game. Defensively, they were much improved and never gave Tyldesley any space. Offensively, a little less lateral running and bit more direct running would definitely help, but the close result reflects the good game which was a pleasure to watch. Isaac Niall and Emily made an immense impact in the scrum, an impact continued by Isaac into his piledriving runs. Alex generated quick ball from the scrum to the backs and Henry, Joe and Tom weaved and darted around the defence. Well done to all of the team.

I’d also like to give a big thanks to the players and coaches from Tyldesley who made us welcome and played the game in a great spirit. Thanks to Steve for refereeing and finally, a special thanks to Matt for joining ‘Dale for the day.