RING rusty Rossendale blew away the cobwebs to run out convincing winners thanks mainly to an impressive performance from Pasquale Kornecki.

The youngster top scored with a personal haul of 19 points in Rossendale's first match of the season.

Their lack of match practise was evident in the early stages as they made a tentative start to the campaign.

Dale employed a half-court man-to-man defence and traded baskets with Salford at a very slow rate.

The University side had a number of very fast and skilful players, in particular Ellie Green, who Rossendale found difficult to handle.

Towards the end of the first period Rossendale's captain, Roger Fulton, called for a full court press.

The team was slow to respond, but managed to squeeze a five point advantage and lead 25-20 at the interval.

During the break, coach Andy Chicken, ran through the new plays introduced during the close season and this had the desired effect.

From the start of the second half Rossendale looked a different team.

Their intense pressure defence created some excellent scoring opportunities for two of Rossendale's 17-year-old guards.

A three-pointer by Stuart Fulton, then an avalanche of 10 points in a row by Ken Masser without reply by Salford sealed the game within three minutes of the re-start.

The coach then made full use of the bench and the team put in to practice the new moves.

When they properly executed they worked very well, however more work is needed in training. Overall a good team performance for the first match, with all players playing well.

Rossendale 69 Salford University 36

Scorers -- Rossendale top scorers: Pasquale Kornecki 19, Ken Masser18, Paul Evans - 11

Salford Uni Top Scorers: Usman Hussein 14, Ellie Green 8.