Colne & Nelson U12s 26 – 14 Rossendale U12s

The home side struck first, after several phases of play with excellent recycling of the ball, with a converted try. This seemed to shake the Dale lads into action, who chased the restart and quickly regained the ball. After several good surging runs and perfectly timed offloads from Jordan Lord, Malarchy Graham and Ciaran Campbell, the ball ended up in Max Lyth’s hands who went over to score. PJ Butler scored the conversion to level the score. Throughout the remainder of the first half, both sides showed strength and commitment in attack and defence, but Colne & Nelson just managed to edge the first half with 2 further converted tries.

The even match continued in the second half, with both sides defending solidly and have equal shares of possession and territory. It was Dale who were first to score after a defensive mistake saw Isaac Cornwall steal a ball and dab it over the whitewash for Dale’s second try, again converted by PJ Butler. Unfortunately, a hand injury to Dale’s hooker, Jordan Fortune, meant that he had to leave the field, resulting in uncontested scrums for the last 7 minutes. After one more unconverted try from Colne and Nelson, the game ended 26-14 to the home side.

The whole team put in the effort and are showing real signs of improvement and deserve to feel proud of their performance but Dale’s man of the match was awarded by the referee to Isaac Cornwall; he was all over the field with big tackles and strong runs and fully deserved the award.