Culceth Eagles 38 - 34 Rochdale Cobras

A spirited fight back after a disastrous start to the day wasn't quite enough as Rochdale Cobras succumbed to Culceth Eagles.

Injuries and other commitments robbed Cobras of nine players and travelling with only 11 players, the heads were down before the team arrived in Warrington.

Cobras move the ball really well and had the superior ball players whereas Culceth are a big side with little finesse, and came out with full commitment as they knew the Cobras had no subs and would tire.

Coop kicked off and immediately won the ball back for the locals. Despite sustained pressure though, the home side held out well in defence and were able to work their way out and score first.

Battersby responded for the locals shortly after though and Coop levelled the scores with the kick.

Culcheth though were not giving up and scored two tries in quick succession before it was noted they had an extra player on the field. 

With numbers evened up, Cobras got into their stride and the set plays were working well, Mcloughlin scored but Jake Clegg picked up an injury that forced him into hospital for the day with a badly sprained ankle and the Eagles had the extra man again.

At half time, the coaches had words and stressed that the superior team were losing due to poor tackling, and with more commitment and desire, they could get it back.

Culceth had their tails up and posted further points to take a 38 - 10 lead.

It was at this point that the Cobras lads started to turn the game around.

Driven on by Battersby, Mellors and Dolan, the team started to pick holes in the Culceth defence and 3 tries from McEvoy, one from Dolan and another from Battersby, together with two conversions from Coop, brought the score to 38-34.

In the closing seconds, the ball was shifted wide and a ball was passed to Cain to touch down. But the ball was squeezed out as he went down and the final whistle blew.

A Cobras spokesman said: "Coop did well with his kicking, Brierley and Cain worked hard in the forwards as did Mcloughlin and Clegg. Platt and Booth also did their bit in defence and going forward. McEvoy is becoming a potent forward player joining well from full-back."