Dale started the brighter of the 2 sides, looking composed and confident - retaining possession well through committed recycling and sensible use of width. Their reward for this quality rugby was quick in coming as player coach Dave Wood weighted his pass perfectly for returning full back Roger Dennison to carve through the visiting defence for a simple, well executed try to open Dales account. Arno DeJager converting to give the home side a 7 point lead. 7 - 0

More of the same brand of rugby soon had Rossendale in the opposition half again. This time Collins popping up on the wing to feed the ball back inside to Pole, who smashed through 2 defenders and fed the supporting Dejager, who mimicked his larger counterparts and battered through the 1st attempted tackle and passed back to Collins for a 15m dash to score the 2nd. Again DeJager split the uprights for the extra 2 points. 14 - 0

Rossendale were in full flow and the crowd could sense the optimism of the home team as they recycled ball over and over in patient manner, and defended intelligently on the occasions Penrith did get the ball - containing the strong running Penrith forwards and forcing their pacy backs to run wide and out of space. Until, at a ruck on the edge of Dales' 22, DeJager was contentiously adjudged to kill the ball and sent to the sin-bin. Penrith elected to kick for goal from the resulting penalty.But their attempt struck the left post hard and rebounded almost to its' starting point for the chasing visitors to collect. They swiftly moved the ball into space on the left wing and cantered in for their opening score. 14 - 5

Tails now up, Penrith besieged Dale using their forwards to exploit their numerical advantage around the "10 channel", and soon enough the penrith 13 jinked his way through Rossendales' beleaguered defence to score their second as halftime approached. This time the conversion was good. 14 - 12

HT 14 - 12

Rossendale finished the first half in the lead but were under no illusions as to what the first 4 minutes of the next period would bring whilst DeJager was confined to the technical pitch side area. Sure enough the onslaught came straight from the off, as Penrith strived to take the lead, pressuring Dale in all departments and only some stout defence kept them out. But with DeJager now reinstated Rossendale seemed to settle somewhat, but could not find clean enough possession to attack in the manner they opened the game with and consequently struggled to break the visitors stranglehold. Following a lengthy build up, Penriths' forwards drove perilously close to Dales line and kept the momentum up -edging closer as resolute Rossendale kept their opponents out. After several drives close to the ruck Penrith moved the ball wide to their left as Rossendale encroached and were penalised, although had the referee played any kind of advantage the visitors would certainly have scored a try. Penrith took the 3 to give them the lead. 14 - 15

This score seemed to spark a resurgence of sorts from the home side, and they chased the scoreline at every opportunity. But with their 1st phase ball under pressure, struggled to mount any sustained attack of note. As in the last couple of weeks, too often the ball did not go to hand in crucial areas and at critical times. The introduction of new signing Cameron Thompson at openside showed promise for the future, but Dale needed something here and now... The next score came from Penrith though, defensive laxity was exploited by the visitors and they ran in their 3rd as Dale failed to clear a speculative kick following another dubious decision. 14 - 22

As full of character as ever Rossendale took up the gauntlet as the clock ticked down and constructed arguably the best try of the day, Another simple well executed attack down the right saw Albinson deliver the opportunity to Rigby - who finished the task well. DeJager again converting. 21 - 22

Try as they might though Dale could not find the necessary to seal a win in the dying minutes and left the field a little deflated following such a sparkling start.

FT 21 - 22

Quote MJB
"Bitterly disappointed with this result, this game was ours to keep after 10 mins. We must improve the 1st phase elements of our game and deliver quicker, cleaner ball - the team were all gutted that they couldn't play their way to a victory today and will be working hard to correct things prior to next weeks encounter away at Rochdale."