ILKLEY 17 ROSSENDALE 24

Catching league leaders Huddersfield who now look odds on favourites to take the league title and automatic promotion back to N2N now may appear a forlorn hope but Rossendale further consolidated their position in second place with a 17-24 win away at Ilkley and with third place Wirral going down away at Hull the east Lancashire side are now eight points clear of the chasing pack.

This was certainly not a game for the purist. Played in dreadful conditions with mistakes a plenty the honours went to the visitors who adapted to the situation the better by using their pack to maximum effect.

Ilkley took the early lead and were ten points up through a converted try and a penalty before Tom Jones crashed over for his side's opening try on the back of some solid phase play by the Rossendale pack. Steve Nutt added the conversion and with half time looming a drive from a scrum five metres out got Dominic Moon over for the second, Nutt's conversion affording a 10-14 lead at the interval.
In the second period it was Moon again also from a scrum five metres out but this time picking up from the base to force his way over, Nutt again on hand with the extras.

In the closing stages Ilkley came back into contention with a converted try but a penalty from Nutt sealed the win for the away side.

Geoff Lightfoot