Rossendale 34 Blackburn 6 (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Rossendale 34 Blackburn 6

10:58am Tuesday 11th November 2008 in

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ROSSENDALE can rightly lay claim to being Top Dogs after another victory over local rivals Blackburn.

It was the second derby win for Dale this season having beaten their near neighbours in the EDF Trophy last month.

It was win number six for Dale who climbed up to second place in North Two West while Blackburn remain rooted to the foot of the table, still looking for their first win of the season.

Dale always had too much fire-power for Blackburn and two Shaun Stirrup penalties either side of a try from player/coach Dave Wood got the scoreboard rolling.

Blackburn responded with a Paul Bleasdale penalty only for Rossendale to reply with another try, this time from full back James Squires.

Another Stirrup penalty, making full use of the wind.increased their lead to 19-3 at the break.

After the break, Blackburn’s main threat came from the sniping runs of captain and scrum half Bleasdale but he could do nothing about Dale's next score as James Bramhall used his guile to sneak over from close range.

Squires, who is quickly finding his feet at his new club, went over for his second try in the right corner following good pressure from the pack.

Rossendale however left the best to last when New Zealander Wood, free from the injuries that blighted him last season, saw off two would be tacklers, cut through the Blackburn rear guard and set up flank forward Richard Horrocks for the closing score of the contest.

While it was all smiles for Dale and their fans, Blackburn’s chairman of Rugby Gareth Dyer was deeply disappointed by his side’s display.

He said: “The players have been told that the performance was totally unacceptable. We have kept things positive over the last few weeks in the belief that simple errors would be resolved and we could focus on getting a win.

“However we were poor right from the word go.

“Credit to Dale who are really looking impressive and they have some very accomplished performers who are giving the team some real leadership and drive. We, on the otherhand, have a lot of work to do and it’s time for the players to take on board the lessons straight away.”