Rossendale Senior Colts 7-19 Tarleton Senior Colts

A bitterly cold Sunday afternoon welcomed Tarleton to Marl Pits with the home side looking for a revenge for a defeat earlier this season. Both sides played with aggression, strength and pace, but neither side could break the deadlock. Tarleton came close with a penalty on the 18 minute mark, the ball slid past the posts to keep the scores level.

The cold weather contributed to a few handling errors, but otherwise it was an exciting game of rugby as the sides worked to break through. Tom Unsworth made a number of darting runs from deep in Dale's half but all were dealt with before too much territory was gained. The forwards worked hard to smash through the robust Tarleton defence but it held firm. Dale finally made the breakthrough from a scrum just inside their own half. Isaac Cornwall picked up from the base and made a few yards, before shifting the ball to Henry Wilby and eventually out to the wing. Callum Pelling received the ball and sprinted around the stretched Tarleton defence and with a final side step, deceived the last man and ran in under the posts to score, with Henry Wilby adding the extras. The half ended fairly soon afterwards with Rossendale 7-0 Tarleton.

Dale started the second half with the wind and the slope in their favour, so hopes were up for them adding to the score, but they were dashed soon after the restart when Tarleton broke through a fragmented Dale defence to score. The rest of the half seemed to be played in Rossendale's half, contributed to by some poor exit decisions keeping the pressure on the Dale defence. Eventually, effort of constantly defending seemed to take its toll as Tarleton went on to score two more unanswered tries before the game ended Rossendale 7-19 Tarleton.

Rossendale's Man of the Match went to Ben Ludlam for his solid defensive display and for stealing at least half a dozen turnovers at the breakdown.