A blustery Marl Pits welcomed Beverley for the latest instalment of Rossendales' 3N saga. With the pitch in excellent condition again, the small but eager crowd expected a more entertaining game than last weeks war of attrition and were rewarded with some remarkable rugby officiated intelligently by London Society Referee James Sullivan. His no-nonsense approach proved the undoing of Beverley as they sought to staunch the flow of Rossendales' industrious pack and the pressure they provided.

Beverley were 1st to score however following a clearance kick 7mins into the match, captain Bramhall covered back and fielded the kick but, unsupported was forced to concede the penalty as the Beverley back 3 swallowed him up. Dale Hodgson providing the early lead for the visitors somewhat against the early run of play. 0-3

But Dale were determined not to repeat previous performances, and patiently attacked Beverley - going through their phases and working their way downfield back into the visitors 22. On 17mins a deft chip saw opposition scrum-half Mike Killgallen smashed by a thunderous Dennison tackle and failing to release the ball he conceded a penalty on the edge of his 22, converted by Bramhall to level the scores at 3. 3-3

Rossendale continued in the same vein, and inspite of spirited defence by the visiting back row worked their way back into the Beverley 22 to further pressurise their opponents. At this point the referee correctly "binned" Beverley lock Gavin Gibson for deliberately 'killing' the ball at the ruck - a sign of his tolerance levels for ruck offences - and Dale kicked to the corner in the strong wind. The lineout promised to provide the opening try but heroic defending by the undermanned Beverley pack kept Rossendale at bay and forced the scrummage. From this platform the numerical advantage undid their efforts, Pole fed Bramhall down a short left-hand blindside. He drew the defence and put Harper over to extend Dales' lead. 8-3
And nudged Dale further ahead with the conversion into the now howling wind. 10-3

The intensity now at fever pitch Beverleys' discipline crumbled further, and as their back row traded punches and insults with the Dale front 5 Albinson skipped through the poor defence of his opposite number Tupai and cantered in to score on the half hour. 15-3
Again Bramhall providing the extra points. 17-3

From the restart Bramhall broke blind, sensing space and fed Harper to penetrate Beverley further and indeed it took all of the considerable pace of fullback Harding to prevent him from scoring. The ensuing ruck saw another Beverley forward "binned" for illegal interference, this time tighthead prop Danny Morris, and heap more misery on the visitors. Now down to 6 in the pack they were forced to scrummage, and did well - MacKenzie only prevented from scoring by the corner flag as the defence scrambled to cover their blindside.

However more shenanigans at the scrummage saw Mr. Sullivan lose patience with Beverley and he awarded the inevitable penalty try and sent McKay to the bin for his transgressions. 22-3

Bramhall dropkicked the extras as the ball refused to stand on his kicking tee in the wind. 24-3

With their tails up Rossendale battered Beverley back from the restart and soon found themselves rucking on the goal line again. And as expected the Beverley pack couldn't resist interfering yet again. Replacement prop Everson the guilty party summarily dismissed to the sinbin to join his fellow conspirators. This presented Dale with an interesting conundrum, they could take the scrummage but it would be uncontested - the visitors having insufficient front row forwards to compete - or accept the penalty. They elected the latter and again kicked into the corner, to take the lineout. Dale threw long and drove hard for the line, before Pole peeled off the maul to score against his former club and earn Rossendale a welcome bonus league point. 29-3
The conditions proved too much for Bramhall and Dale went into halftime with a commanding 26pt lead.

HT 29-3

To their credit, the visitors refused to collapse and began the second half well despite their still depleted numbers. But a loose pass under pressure saw Rossendale pounce again, winger Nick Fontaine
galloping in to score after 3mins, following the defensive efforts of Albinson, Appleton and Dennison . 34-3
Bramhall converting to extend the lead beyond the reach of plucky Beverley. 36-3
The result now out of question Rossendale brought off the stalwart Pole
Another wayward pass from Beverley 10mins later was picked up by Fontaine, who sprinted into space and drew the cover defence before feeding inside to Dennison - who raced in to complete the Rossendale scoring on 15mins. 41-3

At this point Bramhall left the field, the contest over. And as the visiting team regained numerical parity they staged a brave fightback.

Another discrepancy at the ruck saw Dale openside Thompson given a yellow card as the visitors came back into the match. Scoring 6 phases later through Riby-French.

And again 2 minutes later through fullback Harding.
Hodgson converting both to bring the score to 41-17

Second row Adams closed Beverleys account with a try 10mins from time as the game wound down to a close. 41-22

An eventful afternoon earning Rossendale maximum points, with the promise of still more to come. This week Rossendale entertain Birkenhead Park at Marl Pits - kick off 1430

Quote MJB

"Inspite of the number of sinbinnings, we were not going to be denied today. The referee was forced to act, and the yellow cards issued were a direct result of the pressure we created. To be quite honest I thought several more instances went unspotted and unpunished. That said Beverley refused to give in and were rewarded at the end as our players realised the game was won. As always, it seems, we know there is still more to come but this result certainly doesn't leave any doubt as to the potential on the pitch today. The other results from today close this league even more and if we maintain form couls well finish in the top 5 - but there's still a long way to go and we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves... That'd just be tempting fate!"