Dale Well Deserved Victory

The Blacksticks League fixture between Rossendale and Littleborough under 14’s took place at the Marl Pitts ground this Sunday morning, 18th October a mild Autumn morning and dry pitch offered perfect playing conditions for an open game of Rugby.

Littleborough won the toss and elected to receive and very soon the game was under way with a well placed kick off from Rossendale captain Rowan Hopkinson. Dale followed up quickly, Dan Dunham and Elliott Newell went in hard and unsettled the visitors back line giving rise to a loose ball which was pounced on by Jo Starkie, with Nathan Waddington at scrum half quickly on the scene to distribute the ball, Rossendale soon found themselves charging down the right wing and to within 10metres of the try line before a strong tackle brought the move to a halt and the ball was knocked on giving a scrum to the visitors.

As in all their games so far this season the Rossendale scrum has performed superbly and they soon demonstrated their intent today with a massive shove inciting the ‘Boro flanker to release his bind and concede a penalty.

Tyler Johnson stepped up and took a quick tap and despite being rushed by several defenders he used his strength to cross the try line and ground the ball, Rowan Hopkinson converted from a difficult angle for the full seven points.

There followed an intense period of play both sides having an equal share of the ball and territory, tackling and rucking was fierce but fair and only after the 16th minute did Littleborough manage to strike back with a well worked move from a lineout. The conversion was missed.

Rossendale restarted and pinned the visitors in their own half never allowing them to travel far with the ball in hand, Ieuan Dwyfor-Jones and Haig Haworth proved an effective barrier in the middle of the field whilst Tom Moore and Toby Mansley guarded out wide. The pressure led to two successive penalties being given to ‘Dale and from 10m out Brad Watts took a tap and go, evaded his man and passed to Nuri Stoner who combined with Reece Howarth crashed over the line for his sides 2nd try. The angle proved too tight on this occasion and Rowan Hopkinson narrowly missed the conversion. The Half time whistle blew, Rossendale 12 Littleborough 5.

In the second half the visitors had the advantage of a slight downhill incline and as Rossendale took possession from the kick-off Littleborough charged forward as one, determined to get back into the game. They forced the Young Stags to concede two penalties in succession for high tackles and with momentum in their favour managed to cross the line and convert to bring the scores level.

The Visitors had their heads up and looked as though they might score again but for excellent tackling and rucking work, Josh Beeken and Ieuan Dwyfor-Jones covered the turf tirelessly to harry the opposition and the ‘Dale grew in confidence until Tyler Johnson managed to break free on the right wing and make strong run from the half-way to score in the corner, the Home side were ahead again.

Rossendale kept up the pressure and although their passing was sometimes laboured often conceding a knock on, dominance at the scrum soon restored possession and kept them in their opponents half eventually giving rise to a fourth try. Toby Mansley took possession in the centre of the park and demonstrated sparkling footwork almost reaching the try-line but Will Whinton was on hand for the offload and ran the ball in under the posts giving Rowan Hopkinson a straightforward opportunity to claim the extra 2 points. (24-12).

Littleborough continued to press hard but the ‘Dale would not concede, maintaining the upper hand, fittingly their final try, similar to their first, came from a scrum won against the head on ‘Borough’s ten metre, the ball was moved out quickly to Tom Moore on the right who finished off the move with a powerful run to plant the ball between the posts. Rowan Hopkinson made sure of the extra two points earning the Rossendale side a well deserved 31-12 victory.