Early try gives hope but Rossendale too strong for Stockport

Stockport made an excellent start to this match against second in the table Rossendale, with a try in the first 5 minutes. However the strength and fitness of the visitors and their ability to offload to supporting runners meant that the home team was unable to sustain their early efforts and Rossendale ran in 10 tries and converted 9 of them for a 68-7 victory.
Stockport started well and good build up play and recycling patience on the Rossendale line created an opportunity for Ben Jones to score under the posts, Dudley Southern converted. For the first time this season the opposition was held at bay for 15 minutes before their first score. It came with a penalty try after Rossendale drove from a lineout and Stockport prop Thoma was harshly sin binned for entering the maul at the side. The Rossendale fullback proved hard to stop after he ran through following a charged down kick to take a 7 point lead but some resolute Stockport defence held the big Rossendale side to only one more try to make it 21-7 at the break.
The Stockport team found the second half hard work with so much defending needed there were some missed tackles out wide. Powerful forward play and strong running by the Rossendale backs allowed them to score 7 unanswered second half tries. Things were made more difficult when Jones was sin binned after a fracas following a maul, only the referee knew the reason for this penalty, but already struggling to contain the Rossendale effort the reduction in numbers made the job harder still for the Stockport players.
With a break over the Christmas and New Year period the next fixture is away against Sandal on January 7.