Seals deal

by an equally-impressive one by Brandon Conway on a powerful break, but Rossendale were on a mission to reply before the halftime whistle.

Field’s defence was finally broken down as Rossendale took advantage of Austen Thompson’s sin-binning following a scrum on the 5m line, and captain Dominic Moon was the man who put his side ahead at the break. Nutt couldn’t add the extras, so Rossendale led 5-3 at the interval.

Down to 14 players for the first eight minutes of the second half, Huddersfield had to make a huge effort, but Bell missed an early penalty from long distance as he attempted to put his team back ahead.

The make amends (and more!) as he put over three penalties in a row as Rossendale were penalised for foul play too often with the Field dominating (12-5).

Ahead by a converted try, Ben Hoyle and Alex Isherwood were both sin-binned for an off-the-ball incident, but it was Bell who calmed matters as he produced some magic with a drop goal to give breathing space at 15-5.

Rossendale did have the chance to take three points, but Nutt opted to kick for a lineout. That proved to be a big mistake, and after more gutsy work from the league’s best defence, Workman wrapped up the game with a brilliantly-worked converted try in the corner (22-5).

With Field keeping their 100% record intact to the half-way point of the season, Lewis reserved special praise for Bell and Workman, who proved strong in their biggest test.

“I think it was a really mature performance from Bell,” said the coach.

“He’s developed as a player incredibly well over the last 12 months.

“I wasn’t initially sure whether the drop goal was the right call, but when he slotted the ball over it was impressive, and the try we scored through Lewis Workman was just pure class.

“We always knew we could play right until the end, they showed their hand in the first half and we soaked up the pressure, and I honestly think we could have played another half an hour.”