Rossendale 15-10 Northwich

A spate of illness and injuries hit on a weekend when Dale already had limited numbers due to Sale, county and college engagements, so were only able to field a team of 13 for the home game against Northwich. The recent weather has limited the amount of rugby, and led to some very heavy conditions at Marl Pits and produced a tight, evenly matched encounter. Sportingly, Northwich forgoing their permitted advantage of an extra player started the game also playing with even numbers, matching Dale's 13 players and were on the scoreboard first after kicking to touch from a penalty. The visitors executed a lineout strike move and barrelled over to score.

Soon afterwards, Jordan Fortune made a break towards the Northwich line but was hauled down short, but in the process managed to infringe and concede a penalty about five metres out. Mark Rutherford-Shaw reacted quickly with a quick tap before feeding Isaac Cornwall who crashed over to score. Dale's next try came after Jacob Taylor fielded a clearance kick and made some progress down the left. A neat pass allowed Tom Unsworth to jink his way through a couple of tackles and sprint fifty metres to score. Dale's third try came just before half time, after a few phases trundling up the field around the half-way line, when the ball ended up in the hands of Jordan Fortune who ran down the left to score in the corner.

The second half was another tight affair, with both sides struggling to get the upper hand, and the fatigue of a heavy pitch with no replacements was also taking its toll. Northwich scored the only points in the second half with a try after winning the chase from a ball kicked into the corner. The final score was Rossendale 15-10 Northwich.

Dale's man of the match went to Tom Unsworth for some excellent work around the field, jinking runs and plenty of work at the breakdown.

Photos from the game are here
Video highlights of the game can be seen here