It was fitting that the ”old warrior” player coach Tim Fourie was the player who’s outstretched arm appeared from the bottom of a ruck a meter from the visitors line to touch the ball down. Although the legs don’t carry him around as fast these days, his immense experience and determination shone through all afternoon, like the mid autumn sun which covered Marl Pits.

The early exchanges saw Lymm strike first with a penalty, before playing up the slope Dale opened their account with a try from wing forward Matt McKenzie, the kiwi who fed off a subtle inside pass off scrum half Jamie Albinson. Stand off Will Sharratt converted. 7-3. Rossendale went down to fourteen men when number eight Danny Collins was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes for a high tackle.

Rossendale had to dig deep to hold on to their lead with a very capable Lymm side always threatening to take the lead. They narrowed the gap to one point with a penalty following another transgression at the ruck by Collins saw him receive a second yellow card and summoned for the rest of the game to the side lines. A back row player usually plays on the edge of the law and Collins is no different. The home side made changes to personnel with Steve Nutt replacing Sharratt at fly half and Ian Marshall replacing Leyton Taylor in the front row.

Going into the last twenty minutes with a man down Rossendale were up against it, but the changes gave them an added impetus. The visitors however seized their chance and scored an unconverted try with five minutes remaining. Dale’s riposte saw them rumble down the slope and camp themselves on the Lymm line. A final drive for the line saw match winner Fourie emerge to the delight of the home supporters. Nutt converted to finish the scoring as the final whistle blew. This was a fantastic win for the valley side and takes them closer to leaders Chester who lost their match.

It is Chester where the team head this Saturday kick off 3.00pm where victory would see Rossendale challenging for top spot.