Gillan bags hat-trick as Dale close in style
Skipper and pro inspire Boro victory
THERE was a great turnout at Moorgate Avenue for Dale’s last home game of the season – the re-arranged fixture with Cheshire side Winnington Park.
The crowd were expecting lots of tries if the last meeting of these two sides was to be repeated.
Dale welcomed back Shaun Needham to the pack and with a full set of backs it promised to be a lively afternoon.
The home side were soon on the attack winning a scrum on Winnington’s 22 a penalty was awarded and from the line out on the five-metre line Dale moved the ball across the park the final pass allowing Pat Gillan to do what he does best and score just wide of the posts the conversion was taken by Keelan Bradley
7-0. Dale continued to press and dominated the opposition 22, a series of penalties against Winnington Park led to the referee giving a penalty try to Dale
14-0. Good defence by Dale on their own 22 Kyle Parry kicks clear and a high return from the visitors well taken by full back Blair Henry and cleared to beyond half way.
Winnington Park kept on attacking and this time a series of penalties saw Dale defending in the red zone and a line out for the visitors on the home 22 led to a nice passing move and a try to them 14-5 with 30 minutes gone.
Dale were soon back on the attack with Brad Fox coming close and the relieving kick being well taken by Henry on the 22 he then charged through the Winnington defence to score a great solo try 19- 5 the kick falling just short from Bradley.
Dale had several chances before half time including a not grounded decision as Jake Castree went over in the corner.
The second half was a masterclass from the Dale backs who had good ball from scrum and line out dominance with Needham and Chris Hodgkinson both doing well.
The final pass of a nice scissors move from Bradley and scrum half Joesbury was a judged to be forward as Ieuan Bissell roared in on the wing.
Winnington Park were not finished and Dale had some defending to do in their own 22 Tom Callaghan, Harry Hill and Parry all playing their part.
The second yellow of the game was given to Jack Green who had to leave the field, far from putting Dale on the back foot it only served to intensify the attacking moves with Fox and Bissell going close but it was Pat Gillan who scored next after a scrum on half way he got the ball wide and carved through the visitors defence to score his second and Dale’s fourth try of the afternoon converted by Bradley 26-5.
Winnington Park kept playing and had their reward on 65 minutes when they found some room wide and finally cracked the Dale defence 26-10.
Sadly at this point pack leader Tom Callaghan again succumbed to a shoulder injury and had to leave the field Harry Hayes came on as was soon in the thick of the action being stopped short of the line.
The ball came back and Gillan hovering on the 22 took the ball and jinked in for his hat-trick of tries in a wonderful performance 31-10.
There was just time for the visitors to break from the back of a scrum on the Dale 10 metre line and score a consolation try which was converted leaving the final score 31-17 to Dale, another maximum points performance to leave them second in the league just behind Anselmians.
Today the boys are in the semi-final of the Lancashire Cup at Widnes (yes we know that’s in Cheshire!) the coach leaves at 12 noon from the clubhouse.
THE Littleborough batting juggernaut powered past a hapless looking Rishton side at a packed Hare Hill on Sunday as the home side made it three wins out of three and sit joint top with Crompton.
Stars of the show were skipper Clinton Perren and professional Travis Townsend, the former stroking an excellent century and the latter falling eight runs short of a well deserved century.
Perren reached the boundary six times and Townsend 13 times.
Littleborough won the toss and had no hesitation in batting as both openers looking in no trouble at all before Zac Perren fell for 26 with the score on 48.
Perren senior and Townsend formed an excellent partnership making 124 before the second wicket fell with the score on 178.
Chris Schofield chipped in with 26 before Ryan Miskella and Matthew Hernon fell in the search for quick runs.
The innings closed on 276/5 with the skipper quite rightly leading the players off with an excellent 104 not out to his name.
One thing Littleborough haven’t got quite right yet so far this season is the seam bowling department, in particular Miskella and Lewis Willman not quite hitting their straps yet.
This was evident as the visitors coasted to 71 before the first wicket fell to a sharp run out by young Louis Russell.
It turned out to be a good day for Russell as he and his spin partner Hamza Ali took seven wickets between them as wickets fell at regular intervals with the last one falling in the 45th over.
Russell finished with 3/38 and Ali took 4/41.
Pick of the batsmen was Brad Juliff who contributed a gutsy 71 of 87 balls.
The place was packed throughout the whole day and long into the night as Littleborough Cricket Club continue to go from strength to strength both on and off the field. Next stop is Bacup away on Saturday