Rochdale Town Team Triumph at Eccles

Rochdale Town Team edged a thrilling 26-28 encounter against Manchester and District at Eccles RLFC last night (Thursday 5 May).

Town gave debuts to numerous players including Ellis from Mayfield NWC, Tierney from Cobras and Coupe from Littleborough, as the coaches looked to test out new blood in preperation for the upcoming game against the Royal Navy.

It was Coupe who opened the scoring for Town, claiming a cross field kick from Taylor on the last and diving in to pull the scores level, as Manchester had caught Rochdale cold from the kick off.

Manchester responded by regaining the ball from the kick off and scoring under the posts again. This pattern continued throughout the half, but it was Rochdale who went in 14-12 ahead at the break following the impressive West's try on the stroke of half time.

The second half contiued as the first ended with a try a piece for both teams before Rochdale took a hold of the game. The Manchester pack began to tire and the mobile Rochdale pack, led by the workhouse Sharrocks, began to get on top. This allowed a great platform for the evergreen Browne and Hough, the latter on as a substitute, to lay on a try for Seta Tala. Hough also claimed two tries himself, both off his own kicks, to put Rochdale 28-18 up with ten minutes to go.

A controversial try from Watkins with with seven to run on the clock ensured Town had to fight to the end, but fight they did, as Sharrocks and West led the defence to force mistakes from Manchester and see the game out.

The next game for the Town Team is on Sunday 15th May, as they host the Royal Navy at Spotland as part of 'Help for Heroes' day. The squad is preparing well and the new lads will certainly stake a claim to be involved, as numerous players unavailable due to work commitments and Mayfields promotion campaign are set to return, leaving a welcome selection head ache for coach Ramsbottom.

TRY SCORERS: Coupe, West (2), Tala, Hough (2)
CONVERSIONS: Hough (0/2) West (2/4)
MAN OF THE MATCH: G.Sharrocks