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Rochdale 50 - 14 Wilmslow

7/10/2008

On a grey and windy day at Moorgate Avenue, Wilmslow were the opponents for Rochdale in a North Two West division match.

From the start the visitors looked better prepared and ready to go for it.

They kept Rochdale largely in their own territory and had a lead after six minutes thanks to an unconverted try from Ben Day. Not long after that poor discipline by the home side advanced Wilmslow near enough to the posts for MacCallum to slot home a penalty. An 8-0 lead for the visitors with only 10 minutes gone was not an auspicious start for a Rochdale outfit yet to be beaten this season.

It took some stern work by the Dale forwards, with Tom Helliwell and Leo Freshou putting in good work at the breakdowns. This, combined with ferocious tackling by the back row of Gareth Adams, Ross Hartley and captain Mike Bradwell, forced Wilmslow into making errors when in possession. The referee, who controlled the game very well, gave Rochdale a penalty in the visitors’ half, and from the following ruck Collins got the ball, saw the opportunity, and slotted a drop goal from 20 yard.

The Rochdale workrate began to tell on the visitors, and after 25 minutes an opening created by effervescent number 10 Steve Collins – who throughout the match commanded the distribution both left and right – saw the ball go to Daz James who passed two men to find the hands of Callum Mulkeen, and he ran through to score a converted try.

From then on the Rochdale outfit began to pile on the pressure with a series of runs which each time threatened a score. Rob Blackburn was the recipient of a pass when the Wilmslow forwards were rucked off the ball, and he went over between the posts with the extras provided by Collins. Gaz Adams got the next try, once again after some superb passing and support play from fullback Rob Blackburn and centres Jonny Mair and Wynnie Van Syl. Collins converted.

Rochdale quickly scored again, running the ball from their own 22 with a series of passes to get to the Wilmslow 22. After a ruck the ball passed from Daz James to Collins who jinked through the defence to score close to the posts. Collins converted. The half-time score was 36-8, and with Rochdale having advantage of a slight wind the second half looked very promising for the home spectators.

Rochdale pressed on after the interval and an excellent converted try by Collins, soon after the restart, had Wilmslow reeling. With the game wrapped up Rochdale mainrained their onslaught, and two further tries from Mark Thomas brought up the 50 points mark for the first time this season.

The home defence still had work to do. Wilmslow, to their credit, did not lie down and good defending by Rob Ward – on for Neil Sunderland – and Tommy Callaghan, who operated with the backs in some stages of the game, kept the visitors at bay. Dominic Greenhalgh provided some very good lineout ball for Helliwell to give Rochdale plenty of possession in the lineouts. Wilmslow did finish the game well, with a ball kicked out wide and caught by winger Beard who scored in the corner.

With other results going Rochdale’s way this fine win put them on top of the North Two West league by two points. But with the results showing almost any team in the league can beat any other on their day it still looks very tight. The next foray is to Leigh. This is usually a tough fixture.