Dale go down fighting in derby thriller

Another derby Saturday at Marl Pits with the visitors being the second team of the Sedgley Tigers who are sat in third place of the Premier league table, one place above Rossendale.
An eagerly anticipated game with a number of players on both sides having previously worn the colours of the opposition.
Rossendale were not overwhelmed by the high ranking status of the Tigers club and some great hits were put in by Israr Asif during the early stages of the first half with Alex Isherwood also showing some good attacking prowess.
But it was Sedgley who had the more dominant half . Some big driving runs from their forwards laid a solid platform to work from and a quick defence put the pressure on the home side. By half time it was the visitors who had posted 19 unanswered points on the board with three tries. Dale might have considered themselves their own worst enemy as two of the tries came from an interception pass and a charge down whilst we made some unenforced errors that put unneeded pressure on us.
However the Rossendale team came alight in the second half . The first five minutes was a complete reversal of the first half and when James Willetts took the ball to the blind side of a ruck and put George Peel through into space with the speed of a marauding gazelle , he made the most of his big powerful frame and ripped the defenders apart before finding the supporting Toby Cole with a deft pass out towards the wing .Toby did the rest by galloping over for a wonderful try finished off nicely by AJ Potgieter with a conversion from a difficult angle.
Curtis Strong was running hard through the backs and Olly Molloy was only one step away from breaking through on a number of occasions with a defender just managed to effect the tackles. It was Olly though in the 65th minute of the game whose footwork eventually beat the man in front of him and he turned on the speed to go the final forty yards with nobody able to get near him. A further conversion by AJ and the game was now finely balanced at 19-14 . Oh how things change so quickly.
Rossendale continued to battle hard and were still looking the better side. Joe Robertson Maher and Rory Clark doing alot of hard graft whilst George Peel gave a captains knock of a performance.
With only minutes left on the clock Dale came up with an error that allowed the Tigers back in the game up towards the Rossendale twenty two. This was further compounded by a penalty being given away which was converted by Sedge putting them into a 22-14 lead.
Despite Rossendales best efforts it was the visitors who were finishing the final minutes of the game stronger and were awarded another penalty just ten metres out from the Dale line. Many home defenders were guilty of turning their backs on the play perhaps believing another kick at goal was to come but seeing what was in front of him the Sedgley player took a quick tap and drove himself over the line for a further try on the very last play of the game. The added conversion finalised the score at 29 -14 for the away team.
Some interesting learning points for the Dale lads to take away from the game . In some cases very basic points that should been known from early playing days.
What Rossendale can take heart from however was the way they fought their way back into this game and were so very close to taking the spoils themselves . It shows how the team has grown this season and each willing to give the extra mile for his fellow team mates.
Star player of the match for Rossendale was chosen as AJ Potgieter for his work at Scrum half . He tirelessly tore into the Sedgley team being a constant thorn in their side and put in a good shift in defence as well despite one or two big hits purposely aimed at him.
It doesn't get any easier for Rossendale as next weeks game is away at Caldy who top the league and are unbeaten for as many years as any one can remember. I'm sure this will not faize the Dale lads however and they will travel with a positive mindset and give as good as they can on the day.