In the style of Bill McLAREN " They will be singing and dancing in the Valley tonight "

What a difference a week makes. Last week sweltering sunshine and a heavy defeat. This week torrential rain and a great win. Rossendale Seconds travelled to Preston Grasshoppers on Saturday with another much changed side but with expectation still high. From the outset Dale made it known they were going to give Preston a run for their money when Brian Atwine received the kick off and promptly ghosted several Preston defenders with some wonderful footwork before eventually being tackled a few metres short of the line. Rossendale where then put under some sustained pressure themselves in their 22 but the defence held firm. Dale opened the scoring after another fine move taking them into Grasshoppers territory when Josh France sniped through a gap in the Preston defence to score the try. Almost straight from kick off Rossendale drove the ball up field. Some quick hands and a good turn of pace through the back line then saw Israr Asif superbly backing up the passage of play and took the ball to score in the corner. With the rain absolutely teaming down the ball became slippy and much to the good fortune of Preston a number of further attacks by Rossendale came to naught due to the difficulty in keeping hold of the ball. Preston did record a try before the half was out but Dale had made the most of their efforts and lead 12-5 at the break.
The rain continued into the second half almost unrelenting but this didn't seem to deter the Rossendale lads. Matt Ringland led by example and after he and Tom Allen both went over the line only to be held up the Captain took charge again and Ringland finished off a great forward drive. Preston managed to cross the line themselves for a further score much against the run of play and overall in the face of some superb defence by Rossendale but almost immediately from kick off Rossendale won the ball back and after some probing drives A Bishop found a gap in the defence and slid in to score under the posts. With momentum still in their favour Rossendale pressed back down to the Preston 22 . Again some probing runs and passages of play tested Prestons defence to the full before Josh France slung a delightful pass in to the waiting arms of Brian Atwine who ran a great line through the Preston players almost untouched and scored a much deserved try for his efforts on the day. His name is now etched in my memory for ever. Matthew Hindley added three conversions to the latter three tries and the game finished at 31-12 in Rossendales favour. It was a well deserved victory for Rossendale seconds who where simply at their best particularly in the first half. Whilst the score line could of been more but for a slippery ball the team did handle the conditions well. Their defence was a delight on the day with particular emphasis on line speed and the pressure on Preston caused numerous turn overs which gave Rossendale the impetus to turn attack into defence . A very satisfying and deserved result. Well done to all on the day.