Blackburn enjoy that winning feeling again

DINO Radice said victory over Wirral last weekend put a lot of smiles on faces as Blackburn ended their long wait for a victory.

A hat-trick of tries from Harry Aaronson and another from stalwart Jordan Pearson sealed a first win since beating Kendal 20-15 in November last season - a span of nine games over 10 months.

The director of rugby said there were signs of encouragement for his new-look side in the opening day of the season defeat at Manchester the previous week.

And he was happy improvements continued at Ramsgreave Drive in their first home game of the 2025/26 campaign - but he is not getting carried away.

“We did something a little bit better and we made fewer mistakes and errors than we did in Manchester and that resulted in us picking up the win,” said Radice.

“It has been a long time coming and it is nice to be able to talk about a win for a change. There were a lot of smiles on faces in the club house after the game.

“However, we won’t be getting carried away and there is still a lot of hard work to do.

“It was great to get the win but we need to build on in now and that will come with a lot of hard work.”

Blackburn were beaten home and away by Wirral last season so Radice was delighted to see his side get one over the Merseyside club.

“Wirral are a good team, beat us twice last year and finished high up in the table,” added Radice ahead of Saturday's trip to Bowden. “It was great to score four tries but it was a win built on our defence which was very pleasing.

“But I know we can get better in all aspects of our game, being more composed and more patient. Cutting down on the errors but that will all come once we gel more as a team and a group of players.

Meanwhile, Radice has congratulated Niamh Gregson following her recent call-up to the Lancashire Girls Under 16s.

Niamh, the daughter of former Burn player Paul Gregson, came up through the junior ranks before moving on to join Littleborough.

“We are all very pleased for Niamh, it is a great achievement,” said Radice. “She played here before having to move on and her dad Paul is a big part of the club so congratulations to Niamh on on her call-up.”