1st XV
Matches
Sat 24 Sep 2022  ·  Regional 1 North West
Manchester
28
34
Rossendale RUFC
1st XV
MANCHESTER 28    ROSSENDALE 34

MANCHESTER 28 ROSSENDALE 34

Paul Kilshaw25 Sep 2022 - 16:39
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The boot of outside half Jack Reynolds proved the difference as Rossendale edged it 28-34 away to Manchester last Saturday.

Grove Park has never been the easiest of venues and in a very hard fought contest with both sides racking up four tries apiece it was two penalties from Reynolds that sent the Marl Pits side home with maximum points in the bag.

An infringement by the home side gave Reynolds an early shot at the posts to give his side an early 0-3 lead. A charge down by Liam Canning off a Manchester clearance created an opportunity for Matt Lamprey to make ground and go over for the opening try, the conversion by Reynolds increasing the advantage to 0-10.

Manchester hit back with a try from Tom Travis converted by Joe Davidson and, with Rob Willetts yellow carded for a high tackle, Charlie Ding added a second again converted by Davidson to afford Manchester a 14-10 lead.

An interception brought a try under the posts for Curtis Strong and with Reynolds yet again on target Rossendale regained the advantage for 14-17 at the interval.

Early in the second half Manchester came strong again with a second try for Travis converted by Davidson to regain the lead a second time.
Rossendale turned up the pressure and through some neat footwork by Reynolds to set Adam Howard free, a neat popped up pass got Leighton Taylor over, Reynolds conversion putting the visitors ahead for the third time.

From concerted pressure by the pack forcing a penalty, a quick tap by Canning brought up the bonus point. Reynolds slotted the extras with a second penalty to seal the win.

Manchester realising that two bonus points were still on offer got Doug Day over, Davidson landing the conversion.

Commenting on the game after the final whistle head coach Byron McGuigan stated “As a group we knew Manchester would test us this week. They’ve had a fantastic start to the season and going away to a Manchester Rugby club was going to be a tough challenge. Away games in this league are vital, we spoke about how important it is to get results on the road to compete at the top end of this league.”

As to the game itself he continued, “We started fast and then Manchester came back strong at us. Manchester was a real test of our team’s character . What is probably the best performance of the season so far from the Rossendale lads the message was simple.. hold onto the character shown and build on the performance which was far from perfect but credit to Manchester , they stressed us for large parts of the game".
Looking forward to this coming week at home to Northwich he said “We go back to the drawing board and now looking ahead at Northwich, a much improved side, so this week we come back in and re-focus on what job is on hand. Northwich have shown to be a tough side so far this season and would like nothing more than to bounce back after their 32-42 loss at home to Wirral last week.

Geoff Lightfoot

Match details

Match date

Sat 24 Sep 2022

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Regional 1 North West

League position

3
Manchester
4
Rossendale
Team overview
Further reading

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Lanes Group plc
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