Super show

pointless in the second half with a spectacular defensive display.

“It was an absolutely fantastic win, I am delighted,” said coach Lewis.

“It was nip and tuck for the first half and they probably just about edged it, but our defensive discipline was outstanding to keep them to just one score.

“Then when we re-emerged for the second half, the character that we showed was just top drawer.

“Every one of the lads put their bodies on the line. It got a bit feisty and it’s fair to say we got under their skin a bit, and that’s exactly what we wanted.”

In a pulsating afternoon at Lockwood Park, it was the travelling side who made the brighter start to the clash.

The first real chance fell to Sammy Atiola after a neat kick over the top from Steve Nutt, but strong defensive play forced a knock-on; something which was to become a recurring theme throughout.

And as the game lived up to its pre-match hype, off-the-ball fights were to become the other regularity.

Rossendale’s Reece Tomlinson was lucky not to be sin-binned for what looked to be a strike on Ben Hoyle, but the referee did his best to allow a full set of players to remain on the pitch after a number of early heated scraps.

Rossendale continued to put Huddersfield under pressure as they looked stronger, especially at the scrummage, but like all season the defence dealt unbelievably well by turning over possession – notably through Frances Entressengle and Lewis Bradley, who did particularly well man-to-man as the away side threatened.

As Huddersfield started to get a foothold, Adam Malthouse looked to have been in for a try following a line-out in the Rossendale 22, but he was well tackled before reaching the line.

It wasn’t long, though, until they were awarded a penalty as Chris Bell opened the scoring for 3-0.

From the restart, Huddersfield looked re-energised when Elliot Hodgson’s big hit was followed