With this fixture being moved to local premiership side Sale Shark's training ground at Carrington. Conditions were similar to what the away side were used to up in West Hartlepool and not disimiliar to the torrid time Dale had away at Beverley.

With an extremely stiff breeze dictating the play, Dale began strongly. They were with the wind first half and made use of it almost immediately. Three converted tries coming from Paddy Pole, Leyton Taylor and Roger Dennison in the first half set them in good stead for the rest of the match. This was short lived however, West Hartlepool's reply was to sprint 80m from a quick tap penalty to score. Dale attempted to make full use of the wind but were unlucky that the half ended before their pressure could be turned into more points. The half ended 21-7.

Dale's second half into the win began well; Steve Nutt slotting a penalty over within the first 5 minutes to put dale more than just converted scores ahead. It was however inevitable that the wind would play a big part and give the away side the advantage - this advantage was increased when Danny Collins spent 10 minutes on the sideline for a bit of an off the ball antics. They used that advantage to the fullest, notching up two second half tries from missed first up tackles from dale and subsequently a penalty. Luckily, these tries were not converted. Dale continued throughout the half to attempt to attack, sometimes from deep, to no avail. Only their defensive line kept the away side from penetrating to seal the win. Final score 24-20.

Next week sees Dale travel to Cumbria to face a tough, gritty and determined Penrith side.