Burnage Senior Colts 12 - 34 Rossendale Senior Colts

The confidence with which the team took into the contest was there for all to see. They began smartly with captain William Sharratt darting through for the first try following some good pressure from wing forward Matt Fenner. This was quickly followed by hooker Jamie Milton scampering over following some excellent support running on the quarter of a hour mark. Not even the unaccustomed synthetic playing surface affected Dale’s play. If anything it helped their attacking style. From a lineout in their own half they produced some exquisite rugby with a combination of direct running and swift handling culminating in Jack Crowder finishing things off in the right hand corner. The next score came from Rossendale’s scrum half Fraser Chadwick who to the delight of his team mates notched his first try of the season, again finishing off excellent attacking play. Two William Sharratt conversions gave Dale a comfortable half time lead.

The second period saw more mistakes from both sides with Rossendale guilty of some weak first up tackling, and handling errors. The over officious referee didn’t help the flow of the game but Rossendale did manage two more tries. They came through second Matthew Ringland resembling a steam train in receiving the ball fifteen yards out to go over with ease, and on his return from injury Nicholas Street being set up by Jordan Lord from close range to touch down in the final minutes. For their efforts Burnage gained two tries, but were second best to a team who require one more victory from their remaining two games too clinch the league title.

Before any celebrating can be done they have the small matter of a quarter final clash against Sedgley Park in the Lancashire Colts Cup, too look forward to next Sunday.

This weekend they have no game, although three members have training, having been selected for Lancashire Under 20’s. Messrs William Sharratt, Tom Bedlow and Jordan Lord would be the first to acknowledge the contribution of their team mates towards their selection.