Town team beat fire-fighters in charity clash

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The Rochdale and District Amateur Rugby League Association's Town Team

The latest foray for the Rochdale and District Amateur Rugby League town team saw them take on the challenge of the British Fire Brigade at the Mayfield sports centre on Sunday (30 January 2011).

Not much was known about the fire brigade team, as they don’t play regular fixtures together so the Rochdale lads didn’t know what to expect.

The game started brightly with both teams sounding each other out the Fire-fighters drew first blood when their powerful centre brushed aside some ordinary tackles to score out wide.

This stung the hosts into action and they responded with a converted try, swiftly followed by another four pointer. The brigade fought back strongly with excellent work from two local lads Williams and Petty. Another try apiece followed before half time making the score 14 – 8 to Rochdale.

The visitors started the second half like a house on fire and scored within minutes of the restart, tries were traded right up to the full time whistle when a try from the industrious Rob Kershaw sealed the win for the home side.

There were some good performances from both sides notably for Rochdale Qaniuci, Sharrocks, Kershaw and Biggins.

The joint Man of the Match, chosen by the referee was the Brigades Rav Daniels who was a thorn in the side for Rochdale all afternoon and for the hosts Qaniuci was nominated for his non stop efforts in both attack and defence.

The future of the Town Team looks bright at the moment as indeed it does for Rochdale rugby league in general.

The Town Team venture has galvanised the local rugby scene with people from all clubs wanting to get involved and this game was a credit to all involved.