Accrington Panthers 10 - 38 Rochdale Cobras

With four players missing, Cobras had to take to the field with only one substitute, but they went with such desire that the Accrington team were immediately on the back foot.

With Low, Constantineu, Haddley and Brierley making the hard yards, Battersby, Mellors and Chadderton were working well linking things together as the play was spread from side to side, and it wasn't long before Battersby was able to power over for the first try.

Coop tagged on the extras and at 6-0 in the first five minutes, Cobras could be forgiven for thinking this would be an easy game.

It was looking that way as Clegg and Platt took the ball forward again from some neat Dolan passes, and Constantineu went in. Chadderton missed his kick but things were looking good.

Accrington are a fairly big side and were starting to find their feet, the Cobras' defence of needed to be strong and patient for long periods.

McEvoy was linking well from full-back and was able to take advantage of space to score his first try at the mid point of the half and Coop again added the extras.

Chadderton took a blow to the face and had to leave the pitch, Cain replaced him.

While Cobras were adjusting to the change, Accrington powered in for a soft try on the flank, something they repeated very soon after as they overloaded Coop and Platt.

Half time: 14-10

A beautiful flowing move from a scrum saw Mellors feed Battersby, he in turn found Constantineu who drew two defenders before tipping on to Jack McCloughlin. McCloughlin had work to do but was able to burst clear of the cover and run 60 metres for his first Cobras try. Coupe missed the conversion but he returned five kicks from seven attempts in the game.

Haddley was next on the scoresheetfollowed by Low who scored a short range try.

Chadderton, Brierley and Coop worked a nice opening for the last try, McEvoy got his second of the game before the final whistle sounded.

Man of the match awards from the opposition coaches went to Haddley, the improved and direct Low and the tenacious Chadderton.

The Cobras visit Runcorn next weekend - Runcorn got the better of the Cobras in three games last season, all games won by two points.

Squad:  Sean McEvoy, Nathan Coop, Jack McCloughlin, Ryan Platt, Liam Constanineu, Joe Battersby, Joe Chadderton, Gavin Low, Tom Dolan, Matty Brierley, Tom Haddley, Jake Clegg, Joe Mellors, Dylan Cain.