Battle of the Dales

The first round match of this years Lancashire cup brought close neighbours Rochdale to town on what was an untraditional sunny day for Rossendale.
Just like last week’s game Rossendale came out of the blocks the quicker of the two sides, getting into their rythmn earlier and hitting their stride finding gaps out wide in the Rochdale defence with Rowan running in two early tries. Not to be outdone Jason got in on the act sything his way through the opposition to add two tries himself, giving a half time score of Rossendale 20 – Rochdale 0.
The second half became a much more closely guarded affair with big hits and tackles coming in from both teams with neither side taking a backward step. As the minutes ticked away both sides began to turn the ball over frequently and as Rossendale lads legs began to tire Rochdale came into the ascendency winning the breakdown with ease and starting to find gaps in the Rossendale defensive line
The big hits continued and the Rossendale bench started to resemble something from an Accident and Emergency ward with Ryan, Jack and Jamie all suffering various knocks and needing time out from the game.
Rochdale manged to finally cross the white wash in the second half adding two tries of their own through a combination of skill and determination, Rossendale somehow managed to keep pace and added two more tries themselves through Oli and Rowan. Giving a final score of Rossendale 30 – Rochdale 10.
On a personal note it was very pleasing to see the hard work that had gone into this weeks training for scrums put into practice, the technique, body shape and body positioning was much improved on the previous week, keep up the good work!

Onwards to next week and UTD!

Todays team –
Luke
Callum
Camron
Jack
Elijah
Rowan
Michael
Jamie
Oli
Harry
Ryan
Cameron
Jason