Rossendale U11s 22 - 10 Blackpool U11s

After a little deliberation over the conditions of the pitches on Meadowhead, the game went ahead. The torrential rain made the conditions difficult for both sides, but as it was the first game of the season for both teams they were keen to get under way.

The opening 10 minutes remained scoreless as both sides tried to get the upper hand, but the defences remained resolute. Finally, Rossendale broke the deadlock with a try from Henry Wilby after a great break down the right. Unfortunately, he missed the conversion to make the score 5-0.

Another period of pressure from Rossendale resulted in a breakaway try from hooker, Jordan Fairgrieve and with the extras from Henry Wilby made the score 12-0.

Blackpool fought back strongly with an unconverted try to bring the score to 12-5 at half-time.
The second half continued with Blackppol’s fight-back and they were soon closing the gap with another unconverted try and the score 12-10.

Unfortunately for Blackpool, the loss of one of their props gave Rossendale the upper hand in the last few minutes, who went on to score a couple more tries from Chris Bradley and Issac Cornwall to make the final score 22-10.

Blackpool deserved more than the scoreline suggests, but it was a solid performance from the Rossendale team, who are looking forward to hosting Liverpool St Helens in 2 weeks time.

Man of the match went to Chris Bradley and a special thanks to Elliott Lewis - the 14 yr old referee who had a very good game too.