Sunny Blackburn

Sunny Blackburn :-)

The first of the spring Sunday mornings was a superb back drop for a great game, very kindly hosted by our Blackburn U10’s friends.

Rossendale put up a strong team, we travelled the short trek across the motorway with 14 boys to play and all the team were bright and breezy, we missed some of the regular boys, but fielded a good team from the newer members and our experienced boys (and 'egg heads') pool of players.

Kicking off and looking at the opposition it seemed, upfront, we might be in for a bit of trouble as their team were HUGE, some really big boys on their team and they ran in to the first tackle enthusiastically to stamp their authority on the game. Rossendale countered well and moved the ball around their defensive line to score an early TRY!!

The rest of the game unfolded pretty much the same from the outset with big physical tackles and possession and try scoring opportunities being won from the breakdowns. Both Blackburn and Rossendale were confident in the Rucks, there were some chances both sides where possession was changed and stolen through the rucks but Rossendale seemed to be a little more dominant, finding more scoring opportunities and consistently winning possession from the breakdowns and the Try's came from deep running positions on the field to gain try's.

Mid-way through the first half, Bailey, who’s on fire at the moment, coupled with a very unselfish run with Joe made an outstanding try right in front of the Rossendale spectators. Great effort lads!

Key players from both sides controlled the game from the centre of the field and really made a physical and action packed game to observe from the side lines.

With such a big team fielded from Blackburn our tackling was going to be absolutely critical and it has to be mentioned all boys from Rossendale put in some fantastic tackles stopping Blackburn in their tracks and holding, sometimes (not always) , a good defensive line (pack). Big hitters from our team were Joe, Joey, Kyan and Alex putting in some great yard stopping tackles from their larger players.

William Waddington with new streamlined haircut also put in a game lifting try towards the first of the halves we played taking on the ball quite deep in the field and finding the corner and try line. Well Done Will!

All in all the Rossendale team were pretty evenly matched against Blackburn and the score line reflected a more clinical and well executed finishing from the Rossendale team rather than a walk away win as the teams played a lot of the game in the middle of the field with a lot of jostling of possession between the sides.

Playing a larger team meant we had the reserves of the team but it did change how the team played each time, Coach Gerry did a great job of minimising the impact on the players and capitalising on the game with fresh legs to give all players a fair share of the action. Thanks Gerry.

Both Dave and Andy were invaluable keeping up morale of the team and imparting crucial strategic and tactical plays and advice. Thanks Guys

Well Done Rossendale, if my memory serves me right in the games played were up by about 9 -2 to Rossendale.

Well done and thanks parents and players!