West Park St Helens U14s 12-38 Rossendale U14s

In what was a surprise to most given the recent awful weather and waterlogged pitches, Rossendale traveled to West Park, St Helens on Sunday and came away victorious in an exciting game where no quarter was asked for or given. Both teams fought hard for possession, with strong rucking and fierce tackling and contributed to an excellent game, played in the true spirit of rugby and well refereed by a young, 16-year old, referee.

Rossendale kicked off, against a very gentle slope and with a strong wind in their faces, and immediately started to apply the pressure on the home side. West Park were pinned in their twenty-two, until Rossendale managed to steal a loose ball. With the ball, Dale put together a series of 8 or 9 phases of forwards play, trundling closer to the home goal line, until the Park defence managed to rip the ball in a tackle and kick to relieve the pressure. Dale brought this ball straight back, with Hashim Khan smashing into the hosts defensive line before offloading deftly in contact to Jordan Fortune, who went over to score from 10 metres out.

West Park struck back almost immediately, after the restart was knocked on by Dale. From the resulting scrum, Park used a well-worked blind-side move to breach the Rossendale defence and take the lead with the conversion. It was Dale's turn next, when James Willetts picked up a ball 30 metres out and jinked through the defence to score under the posts, then went on to add the extras. Park wouldn't lie down though, and came back again with a move down the left wing which Rossendale didn't defend well enough, allowing West Park to level the score in the corner. Dale ended the half strongly with a combination of hard runs in the midfield, backed to the forwards grinding out the yards up-field in possession, until Isaac Cornwall got his reward for a flawless game with a try on the stroke of half time, converted by James Willetts, to make the score West Park 12-19 Rossendale.

Dale started the second half with the same power and intent as they finished the first, as Isaac Cornwall received the kick-off and sprinted 50 metres towards the West Park goal line, until being brought down about 15 metres short. However, Mark Rutherford-Shaw was in support, and a little pop pass saw him go over for his try in the corner. With the wind behind them, Dale had their tails up, but West Park maintained their spirit and continued to battle hard across the field, with possession changing hands several times as the teams fought for the upper hand. The breakthrough came when West Park kicked long to clear their lines, straight in to the hands of Callum Pelling who ran back into West Park territory. As he drew the defender, a perfectly timed pass to Tom Unsworth in support saw him get his well-deserved try, converted by James Willetts. The final try came from a lovely blend of forwards and backs, with Isaac Cornwall making a run, passing to Jordan Fortune in support, followed by a darting run from Bradley Harris cutting in from the wing to score under the posts. With the conversion from James Willetts, the game ended West Park 12-38 Rossendale.

The whole Rossendale team worked really well together, with 100% effort from every player, and fantastic performances from so many players. The Man of the Match award went to Hashim Khan, who stood out today with his best game to date, as he helped maintain the momentum with the 'pick and go', and making so much ground carrying the ball.