Rochdale 39 Old Brodlians 18
After last week’s resounding win over Goole, Dale welcomed league leaders Old Brodlians to Moorgate Avenue on a bright blustery day, a large crowd with many visiting supporters were on hand to see this top of the table clash.
Dale reverted to a regular front row and had Ross Hartley and Ben Sunderland at wing forwards, Joe Donnelly was in the centre after his try scoring debut last week. A deep kick off was returned by Steve Collins into the Brodlians 22 with the line out won by Chris Hodgkinson the ball came out to Josh Schofield linking up with Cliff Howard on the wing who was held up on the line. The next move led to the Brodlians centre being yellow carded for a high tackle. The penalty took Dale to within 10 metres of the visitors’ line but stout defence saw Dale lose possession and soon having to defend their own 22.
A penalty for Brodlians saw their fly half Josh Kelly take a shot at goal from just inside half way – the kick was good and the visitors had a 3-0 lead with 15 mins gone. Dale were soon back on the attack with Captain Schofield jinking his way through several tackles before chipping over the defence only to see the ball go into touch. High kicks were the order of the day but the visitors defence held on well and were soon back on the offensive a good passing move saw them in for the 1st try of the afternoon 8-0 with 25 mins gone. The next score would be crucial and after a great run by Ethan Poole, Collins threw another inside pass to winger Cliff Howard who ran through the visitors defence to score a cracking try. The conversion was misjudged by Collins so the score was 5-8 with half time approaching. The play was up and down as both sides tried get the upper hand a chip over by Collins was knocked into touch by a defender … the scrum was hotly contested and in the ensuing melee two yellow cards were shown by the referee who was doing his best to cool things down. The penalty went to Dale and another good line out take by Hodgkinson gave the home attackers an overlap and a try in the corner from centre Matt Johnston. This time Collins made no mistake and Dale went in to half time with a 12-8 lead.
The 2nd half started with a kick off straight into touch and from the resulting scrum Dale were awarded a penalty. Up stepped Collins to plant the ball over the cross bar and make it 15-8. With the home side running the game, several penalties for offside and some rash tackles saw Dale 10 metres out and with slick passing scrum half Danny Joesbury leading the charge a neat inside pass saw rampaging substitute James O’Connell cross the line for a well deserved try. Collins converted and at 22-8 Dale looked to have a convincing lead.
Brodlians were nothing if not persistent and after a scrum on half way they forced a try in the corner 22-13. Minutes later it was Dale on the attack and after another high tackle a penalty in front of the posts was dispatched by Collins 25-13.
This was an end to end game and the visitors were not about to let their 100% record go easily, Dale defended stubbornly but following a scrum on 10 metres the visitors got an overlap and scored in the corner, another missed conversion saw the score go to 25-18. The bonus point try came after another strong run by Poole with the ball fed back to Howard who produced a fine try beating the tiring Brodlians defence with sheer pace, the conversion dropped on the crossbar off a post and went over – clearly this was Collins and Dales’ day 32-18. Dale made some changes in the pack with Jonny Bradley who had played well in his first game back coming off and Harry Hill going back on. The referee saw a punch being thrown in a ruck and sent off Declan Conner, Dale down to 14 for the last 10 minutes but balanced things out with a yellow for the Brodlians flanker.
This was by no means a dirty game but as the visitors defence was under pressure the penalties mounted and this time it was their 2nd row who saw red for punching an opponent. Dale had the last score turning defence into attack on half way Collins sent a long pass out and Tom Hesketh was happy to run through the Brodlians defence for a fine individual try. Collins converted to leave the final score 39-18. This was a great performance by the young Dale side aided by a couple of old hands in Ross Hartley and Steve Collins – 5 tries and the bonus point secured saw Dale top of the league for the first time this season and are now the team to catch. Next Saturday a day at the seaside as Dale take on Scarborough at 3.pm.
David Rhodes. R.R.U.F.C.
