Sore and bruised but definitely not battered

It was the first proper outing of the newly amalgamated Senior and Junior side and a real baptism of fire awaited in the form of the outfit who took second spot in the Raging Bulls Colts A league. After a few moments of playing it was clear why they held such a lofty spot and it was going to take some considerable effort to avoid any walk over result. Preston had bags of skill on their hands and opening exchanges saw some slick handling across the back lines narrowly thwarted by good cover tackling.
It was Dale however who took first strike when the debutant centre Ade Blowms broke what had looked like an unbreakable defence to sprint a clear 40 odd yards swatting off would be tacklers as he did. Superb backing up by George Peel ensured the tackle buster was able to offload and Peely outdid the oncoming defender to score the try …. the quality of the break and finish was as good as it gets on any field of play and worth the admission money alone. JakE Mann made a good effort for the wide out kick but it didn’t quite go through the uprights.

Hoppers were caught hopping but were galvanised and got hopping against us soon after. A very strong passage of play by them led to a score followed by a further try and kick.

Just when your thought the Dale lads were looking down and out their spirits were lifted and they played some good strong rugby to finish the half but couldn’t put points on the board.
The tenacity of the Preston defence keeping Dale at bay.

Some minor changes at half time saw Dom Bawles return to the field and Dales defence became a whole lot tighter with Cloughy pulling of some of his usual trade mark strong tackling to commensurate everything that Bawles was doing for us. But Cloughy was doing more than just the tackling, he was running the ball in solidly making himself such a pain in the home sides th’ies.

Unfortunately for us Preston took a firmer grip on the game over a ten minute period and turned their dominance into points with a further two tries to make the score line 24-5.

Weaker sides may have laid down their arms but Dale are not a weaker side and the lads not to be overawed on the occasion fought their way back into the game.

JR worked tirelessly throughout with his strength and fitness matching everything that the Preston lads had to throw at us and Leo started to started to make a strong showing as the game progressed. Danny R continued to show his worth in the side with yet another solid forward display.

Another scintillating break by the classy back Wade Lombs again raised the Dales hopes and the crowd jumped up and down in excitement as he again scythed through Prestons defence with almost ease, could he have gone all the way on his own, I think so but unselfishly passed out to JR who had brilliantly supported Lombs on the run. Unfortunately the ball went to ground and a great chance was missed. Nonetheless the play itself and the shout it gave the travelling supporters was well worth it and made the day all the better.

With game progressing towards the final stages and injuries starting to mount up for the Dale lads we kept our heads high and Peely stepping into the ten shoes put up a testing kick which took a wicked bounce in our favour. That man Lame Dowbs playing a supporting role on this occasion plucked the ball from the air and went over for a very well deserved try for his efforts on the afternoon.

Jak E Mann popped over the extras.

Still a number of minutes to play in the game and Dale where the stronger in the closing stages but their best efforts could not be rewarded further.

Cloughy and Dale Wombs continued to aggressively get into the Opponents faces but good tackling prevented further breaks.

So with the final whistle both sets of players blew some relief but can take a good deal of satisfaction from the events.

Chiefly that we all had a decent competitive game played in grand conditions. It was fierce, very fierce. perhaps not always the best rugby we have ever seen but very competitive.

Special mention to some things not included above but Peelys cover tackling into the second half was magnificent and Joe Settles running and backing up a revelation.

Preston where the better side, a better rugby playing side and far more physical in their strength and approach. They have a number of representative players in their side which showed and will obviously go well in whatever competition they play in.

Dale however competed as best they could. We are a far younger side and didn’t have as many in our side to match the physical attributes of the Hoppers. Nonetheless we didn’t let ourselves down. Some of the remarks after the game from the home contingent included that we had been a better side than some of the A league sides they had played this season and secondly that we had made their side work for the ball all through the game and they did not have it their own way.

So well done chaps a good outing today it was a good taste of the level of rugby we have to match up to in order to better ourselves. There are plenty of points to build upon and therefore all to be at training on Wednesday to allow the coaches to do that with you.

Thanks again Chaps for a good days work.

Derrick