Rossendale 14-24 Wilmslow

On a gloriously sunny day at Marl Pits, Rossendale played host to Wilmslow in the league cup competition. With Wilmslow being from two divisions higher than Rossendale, they were expecting a tough game but Rossendale faced up and matched them on all fronts. It was just a couple of mistakes with missed tackles or a lack of communication that allowed Wilmslow to get ahead. The Dale lads stuck at it though, defending hard and making some good attacks.

Wilmslow were on the board first, after a hard-running attack slipped through a couple of tackles to score a converted try before a stalemate ensued for about twenty minutes. It was mainly played in Rossendale's half, but with neither side able to really get the upper hand until Wilmslow spun the ball across the back line and sprinted round to score. This fired up Rossendale, and after some good lineout work ended up banging on the WIlmslow try line. They defended well throughout a period of about five minutes of sustained pressure, including a penalty for a defender encroaching offside, but eventually the visitors were able to squash the attack and return to the arm-wrestle in the middle of the field. Dale made an encouraging attacked after with a catch and drive that saw them make twenty metres upfield before the attack was halted. With neither side able to breach the defence, the half ended Rossendale 0-12 Wilmslow.

With both the wind and the slope in their favour, Rossendale were looking to turn the game around, but Wilmslow struck straight away with another try. Soon afterwards though, a series of penalties saw Rossendale with a lineout inside the Wilmslow twenty-two. A good set play saw Jordan Fortune barrel his way forward before quick hands across Will Walmsley and Ciaran Campbell gave Henry Higgins a relatively easy finish, converted by Will Walmsley. After a try for Wilmslow, Rossendale hit back from a ball to the backs off a lineout andan excellent clearout by Jake Ruding enabling quick ball to give Will Walmsley the space to dart over to score and convert his own try. The finals score was Rossendale 14-24 Wilmslow and sees Rossendale proceed through to the Shield competition. The Rossendale Man of the Match went to Callum Pelling for strong runs, fierce tackles and good defensive performance.