Fylde 43 - 22 Rossendale

This semi final was played under lights at the home of the National Division Two side and proved to be a valuable test for the valley side. However things didn’t start too well, as straight from the kick off; Rossendale lost the services of their influential back row forward Danny Collins to what looked like a suspected broken arm.

Nevertheless Dale proved a match for their more senior opponents through out a close first half. A searing burst of pace by stand in scrum half Danny Harrison ended with the valley youngster touching down behind the posts. Arno De Jager converted to give Rossendale the lead 15 – 14 at the break. It was a fair reflection of the play and despite losing prop forward Ian Marshall to the sin bin they were well in contention.

However, whilst the home side retreated to the sanctuary of their dressing room for a strong word or two, Dale remained on the pitch for words of encouragement from coach Dave Wood and the experienced Tim Fourie. The second half started with Flyde showing more cohesion. Their pack which included Sam Beaumont son of the former England and British Lion Bill Beaumont, began to exert more pressure. A feature of this was their driving maul which they used to good effect. It paved the way for their next two tries which were set up by the elusive running of their talented fly half. For Dale things began to slide. A number of injuries to Matt McKenzie and Bryse Healey coupled with the loss of coach Wood and his opposite number to the sin bin didn’t help matters. Two further tries from the home side following Rossendale’s reshuffle put the result beyond doubt. A fine kick and chase by debutant winger Andrew Fontaine and conversion by DeJager from the touchline made the final score more respectable for the visitors, who if had more luck with injuries could have made it through to their first ever Lancs. Cup final. One bright spot on an otherwise disappointing night was the fact that Rossendale boasted four ex colts amongst their five replacements. Two of which Sam Greenwood and Grant Eddlestone took to the field for the last twenty minutes.

This weekend Dale travel to the Wirral to take on Birkenhead Park on Sunday in a rearranged league match kick off 2.30pm