Overnight rain had made the playing surface sticky and this didn’t help the general flow of the game. Handling errors were numerous but both sides made a fist of it. Rossendale opened the scoring with a try from Leyton Taylor who powered over, fly half Steve Nutt missed the conversion. It has to be said this score was against the run of play with Bradford playing with more vigour, throughout the half, and threatening Dale’s line despite playing up the slope. Nevertheless it was the home side who managed to put more points on the board, with Nutt executing an exquisite cross field kick for left wing Alasdair Harper to find the final touchdown. Steve Nutt landed the conversion but the turnaround saw Alasdair Harper withdrawn with injury picked up in scoring his try. The reshuffle in the back line saw Roger Dennison move to the wing to allow Will Sharratt to come on and fill the full back berth. A twelve point lead was going to be difficult to defend playing up the slope, but Rossendale dug deep and despite their "first up" tackling being weak they kept the visitors at bay only allowing them a converted try when their powerful blindside back row forward smashed through the defensive line.

At 12 -7 the next score was going to be crucial. Ian Marshall replaced Leyton Taylor in the front row as Dale slowly gained territorial advantage and minimised their mistakes. They showed great adventure despite the poor handling conditions and were rewarded with a try from centre Wynand Van Zyl who went under the posts when taking a reverse pass. Steve Nutt converted. The closing stages saw Rossendale finish the stronger and push for the fourth try and with it a bonus point. Alas it didn’t come but the final whistle saw the valley side take a step nearer the heady heights of top spot.

To maintain this push a victory this weekend is a must as the team travel across the Mersey to take on Birkenhead Park ko 2.30.