Rossendale 23 Blaydon 30

After an eventful journey down which saw us stopped at Wetherby Services by the police looking for attendees at a racial demonstration in Dewsbury and then being held up for 15 minutes on the M62 with traffic problems and roadworks, we eventually arrived at our destination to find perfect conditions for running rugby.

Following last week’s defeat to Billingham, we made several changes due to players returning after injury and unavailability. The game began with 10 minutes of Blaydon pressure but failure to finish off saw the scoreline blank and then on their first visit to the Blaydon half, a second good handling movement saw No. 7 Rob Bramhall brush off two tackles for a try which influential flyhalf Lewis Allen added the extras.

However, Blaydon immediately counter-attacked and further pressure saw good hands and Jack Davidson put in Jack Appleton for an unconverted try. At this time the game was end to end and the scoreline changed rapidly with Rossendale looking better than their league position and penalties by both sides saw the scoreline move on before full back Brad Cave put the home side into a 7 point lead. The game continued with Blaydon backs still dominating and No 8 Harry Borthwick finished off a good move to reduce the lead and Jordan Carey converted and then added a further penalty to see Blaydon 23 – 15 up at the break.

After the interval, the home side attacked and Allen scored a second penalty and Bramhall’s second try saw the scores level on the hour but at this stage the home side forwards began to tire and they struggled to repel Blaydon’s slick handling. Blaydon began to take territorial advantage and with 15 minutes to go a converted try by Freddy Lockwood again saw Blaydon go clear and the game finished with Blaydon cleverly running down the clock by forward domination and coming away with an excellent 5 points.

Jim Huxle