Rossendale Senior Colts 20 - 20 Lymm Senior Colts

A nail biting finale saw Rossendale claim victory on tries scored, over a technically superior Cheshire outfit. This final, at Eccles, had been a long time coming with the original date being washed out by the weather. Rossendale had prepared intensily and were at full strength, but were however behind to a converted try following the opening exchanges. Rossendale responded when right wing Sam Bedlow made up for some earlier indecision to show some deft handling in touching down in the corner. Will Sharratt converted. The momentum had swung in Dale’s favour and following some good work from Matt Ringland and Leo Freschini the latter went close to touching down, the referee having judge that the ball was not fully grounded. Despite this Dale went ahead when loose head prop Danny Rylance crashed over from close range. Sharratt converted. The second period saw more tension and heroics from both sides. Rossendale’s solidity was put to the test when things started to go against them. Firstly center Tom Bedlow was given a yellow card, then a succession of injuries saw Jack Bibby (ankle), Max Chandler(shoulder), and Jordan Lord (cramp) all leave the field. From this point on it was going to be a tough test. Lymm narrowed the gap with another converted try, and then went in front with a well taken penalty from their influential fly half. Dale responded however and from a series of rucks they edge their way to the line and finally got the ball down through flanker Nicholas Street. Sharratt narrowly missed the conversion, which nearly proved costly as the boot of their fly half levelled the match with minutes to spare. A final break by Lymm saw a last gasp tackle from full back Sam Lowthian save the day for Dale and saw them triumph by the narrowest of margins. This Sunday the valley side travel to Fleetwood, to take on the best from Yorkshire in the Cock of the North Cup. They have been drawn to play Wharfedale kick off 2.30pm.