If the scoreline last week vs Rochdale flattered the hosts, this was a complete reverse. West Park scored 4 tries, earned 2 bonus points and – with better discipline – could have won this fixture. Rossendale will be grateful to take the away win after a performance that, although gritty and dogged never really took off.

Dales’ frustrations began early in the day as all routes to St. Helens seemed to be plagued with road works and the squad arrived in dribs and drabs and were not ready to begin their warm-up until 20mins before kickoff.

This was evident in the opening encounters, and Park opened their scoring after 4mins. Full Back Niel Hull on the end of a wide move as Rossendales’ defence struggled to wake up, Craig Orrick converting for the extra 2. 7 – 0

Words spoken behind the posts had the desired effect and at last the visitors started to play a little, producing their best rugby of the afternoon. And were rewarded with a penalty as the home side showed their intent to spoil all Dale possession, DeJager opening Dales’ account by converting the penalty. 7 – 3

Rossendale were now at the races and pressed again from the kick off and ground their way upfield. Several phases of sustained attacking resulted in veteran lock Tim Fourie scoring his 2nd in 2 games after the home defence halted a Rossendale attack just short of their line. 7 – 8

And Dale scored next as more pressure caught West Park trying to break out of their own 22, Wood took man and ball in an excellent tackle which resulted in Dejager scoring the second to push Dale further in front. Converting his own try from under the posts. 7 – 15

7 – 8

Yet more poor discipline from the hosts saw them receive their 2nd yellow card and as Critchley muttered his way off the pitch to calm down for 10mins, DeJager stretched Dales’ lead by striking another penalty. 7 – 18

Park had the final say in the1st half though,Warren Hunt touching down after West Parks giant pack managed to produce some continuity and buy their backs some space. 12 – 18

HT 12 – 18

The second half began in the same vein as the 1st, as Rossendale leaked a soft try through slack defence, number 8 Mark Williams scoring from close range following a desperate Dennison tackle inches from the tryline. 17 – 18

And still the hosts came at Dale, bullocking runs from their bulky forwards forced Rossendale into defensive mode for long periods and spirited defence slowed what little possession they could manage enough to restrict Dales’ attacks to short range drives. The poor disipline continued from the St Helens team and Dale kept the score “ticking” with another DeJager pen through this period.17 – 21

True to form though Rossendale pushed hard and negated the home teams efforts with gritty defence, And following another restricted attack broke the stranglehold for Thompson to “weeble” his way in for the final Rossendale score, Dejager effectively ending the game with the conversion. 17 – 28

West Park are a proud team, and although beaten – pushed until the very end and were rewarded with one final score. Steven Briers finishing after more “powerplay” in the midfield by the hosts, earning them 2 bonus points from the fixture.

“Although West Park are currently bottom I’ll be very suprised if it stays that way. They forced us to play in confined spaces for the whole 2nd half and were worth their 2 bonus points. Each game in this league brings a different challenge, and each week we take away a new lesson to learn – this particular learning curve does not appear to get any less steep. But we are still learning,” Quote D.J.Collins