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Badenhorst blasts away Northwich

20/12/2004

ROCHDALE ran riot at Bamford on Saturday when they completely overwhelmed Mid Cheshire side Northwich by nine tries to nil.

Number eight Alan Badenhorst cashed in with five scores and Chris Johnson rattled up 25 points - six conversions, a penalty goal and two tries.

Aaron Howarth was the only other scorer for Rochdale, the winger bagging two touchdowns in the corner. However, it was not about the try scorers, the team display really caught the eye.

In fairness to Northwich they fought a tough rearguard action for the first 20 minutes, but it was obvious from the touchline the floodgates were going to open up.

The visitors were unable to get out of their own half and when they attempted to move the ball they were swamped by a ferocious Rochdale defence. Lee Riddle and Mark Duffin put in some great cover work around the fringes, while Darren James and Andy Rowlinson wrapped up the backs.

After one or two missed chances, Rochdale eventually got a pushover try to add to a penalty by Johnson. The momentum was lost when Badenhorst was sin-binned for a late tackle and the home side were content to play out the 10-minute suspension.

On his return Badenhorst quickly made up for the error when he took a ball 20m out and burst through a series of defenders to score near the posts.

Northwich were still hanging on, but a cruel blow struck. The Rochdale backs fumbled the ball that was to all intent and purposes a knock-on, a defender put his boot to the ball which hit a Rochdale player and bounced over the try line for the ever-alert Johnson to score.

The game was all over at this stage and it was just a matter of how many points Rochdale would score in the second half.

They did not disappoint their supporters. A beauty from Badenhorst from a loose maul 30m out, and two pushover efforts from the number eight, put his side out of sight.

Howarth finished of some good back play with two tries in the corner to wrap up the proceedings.

Rowlinson at centre had another exceptional game. His move from scrum-half has proved a real bonus, his pace and deceptive running a potent weapon for the Moorgate Avenue outfit.

But the real unsung heroes of the day were the front five. They barely made a mistake, ground the opposition into submission to provided ample possession for the three-quarters to start the rout.