ROSSENDALE have moved to the top of North Two West for the first time in the club’s history and coach David Wood reckons there is better to come.

Dale ran in two tries with Shaun Stirrup kicking 13 points to go joint top with Rochdale.

“Our forwards dominated proceedings throughout the game and allowed James Bramhall to run the game from number 10, “ said Wood. “It was a great performance but we know there is better to come out of this side yet.”

The fact that the match went ahead in the first place was down to the hard work of former Rossendale captain Andy John who is now in charge of the pitches for the club. Dale were once again forced to use their training pitch but only after five tonnes of sand were used to make sure it was playable. Dale starting brightly and creating all the rugby in the opening encounters and it was somewhat against the run of play when New Brighton were awarded a penalty opportunity after 10 minutes but it drifted wide.

It was something of a wake-up call for Dale who immediately set about winning the game. Intelligent use of the ball from stand off Bramhall guided Rossendale deep into New Brighton territory, and sustained pressure in the 22 soon gave the opening score to Stirrup with a penalty.

It wasn’t too long before opportunity knocked again and it was new signing Leyton Taylor who powered in from 10 metres out, helped over the line by Patrick Pole. Stirrup duly converted to make it 10-0 and then added two further penalties as Dale led 16-0 at the break.

Both teams got a stern talking to by their respective coaches at half time and it was New Brighton who came out with renewed zeal and increased fervour. They contested every facet of Dale’s attacking game and made life very hard for the valley side, pressuring them into their own half for fully 15 minutes but failing to breach the increasingly effective home defence.

Dale weathered the storm then struck the killer blow. From a midfield New Brighton scrum, Collins intercepted a somewhat laboured pass on the inside of the opposition stand-off and sprinted 40 metres to the line to score under the posts. Stirrup completed a perfect kicking performance when he added the extras.