DMPRFC 11 v ROSSENDALE RFC 18

In a mirror image of last week's game at Penrith, we started the game full of enterprise, had a lot of possession with several opportunities to score points, but failed to capitalise and ended up with a home defeat.

Although the final margin was nowhere near that at Penrith, we must convert all of our scoring opportunities if we are to accumulate the requisite number of league points that will allow us to bounce back from the relegation upset of last season.

After early pressure, Robin EATOUGH added two penalties in the first half, which also saw Rossendale reply initialy with a penalty of their own.

We failed to capitalise when their influential skipper was sin-binned for persistent infringements at the ruck and on his return, it was Rossendale who score the first try through their hooker who burrowed over from close range.

Just before oranges, our possession was rewarded, when after a quick tap penalty, Dean KELBRICK sent a long raking pass out wide, finding Matty LISTER, who scored for the fifth week in a row, beating two defenders in the process.

The fact that we failed to trouble the scoreboard after oranges was a bitter disappointment and even when Rossendale added another penalty to lead, a late rally was still a possibility.

Instead, it was Rossendale who score the late try, as we failed to show any resolve and the game was seen out by the visitors, who to their credit, just kept going to the end, which is something we failed to do.