Rossendale continued their winning run last weekend away at Kirkby Lonsdale to remain in 2nd place in the North Lancs / Cumbria League, 2 points behind top of the table Fleetwood who also won on Saturday.

Dale knew that this was going to be a hard game but seemed to approach it with a cavalier attitude. For the first 15 minutes Dale were asleep and were shown from the whistle how Kirkby intended to play. Kirkby always looked dangerous on the break and their two wingers were blessed with impressive pace.

When Rossendale eventually got off the coach, their play improved dramatically while attacking which eventually led to the first try of the game. Full back Stephen Lowe going over in the corner. This made the score 0-8 as scrum half John Spencer had slotted a penalty kick from a tight angle earlier in the game. Unfortunately he missed the conversion attempt.

Dale's attack continued to be strong and domination in the lineout and scrummage helped them regain some of the possession lost on the floor in loose play. Both sides had poor ball retention but Kirkby seemed to come out with the ball more than Rossendale.

When some good phases of play were strung together, Dale managed some decent rolling mauls which gained ground. One such occasion helped the forwards to within reach of the Kirkby try line, second row Paul Woodward touched down under the posts for Spencer to convert to put Dale 15 points to the good at the interval.

Rossendale started the second half better than they had the first but it was still lack lustre and soon become too confident in their lead. Concentration levels dropped and prolonged periods of poor tackling and improved ball handling by the Kirkby Lonsdale backs resulted in the home side scoring two unconverted tries midway through the second half.

Luckily, as in the first half, the Dale defence held out and playing into the wind that had changed direction all day managed to spend a few minutes here and there in the Kirkby '22 before being pegged back by some accurate kicking from the KL backs. The game finished with Dale kicking for time in a match they could easily have lost.

Whilst the teams overall performance was nothing to write home about, it was another important win away from home which will keep Rossendale's promotion hopes alive. This weekend Rossendale are at home to Blackpool who will want to avenge their home loss earlier in the season.

Rossendale's 2nd XV lost at home to Didsbury Toc H and the 3rd XV who also travelled to Kirby Lonsdale, were beaten by their 2nd XV.

The Under 15s lost away at Tyldesley 27-0 and they will be training this Sunday while the U12s, U10s and U8s all travel to Blackburn where they are playing in a triangular tournament against junior sides from Blackburn and Fylde.

Kirkby Lonsdale 10 vs Rossendale 15