Away day boost
ROSSENDALE RUFC removed a monkey off their backs by picking up their first away win of the North Premier season.
The Valley side took home maximum points after beating Wilmslow 26-55 in a nine-try extravaganza, securing their first victory of the campaign away from Marl Pits.
And coach Mark Nelson believes the result was just what his side needed to put some early season frustrations behind them. The win lifted Rossendale up to sixth place in the league – and Nelson insists they should be even higher.
“It was a big problem for us, not winning away. This result was definitely a boost,” he said.
“It’s been frustrating because we’ve beaten top teams this season like Hull, Billingham and Blaydon. But there were games like Lymm, which were there for us to win and we didn’t. We could’ve been third or fourth in the league now if we hadn’t given away points. I’m a big believer that confidence has to be earned, and we need to stay focused.”
Saturday will see a break for the squad with a scheduled catch up weekend, which is welcomed by Nelson.
“This weekend will give us time to recover from a few knocks we’re carrying so that we are ready for the tough run up to Christmas. We’re feeling good about the start we’ve made, and our past two games have been good results, so we’ll be ready to go again after the break.”
Among those struggling with injury is youngster Ollie Molloy.
The 2nd team regular has been attending 1st team training, with both Nelson and chairman Nicholas Ingham keen to see Molloy make his 1st team debut.
“We wanted to give him a run out against Wilmslow – it would’ve been a perfect opportunity for him to get some game time, but he has a minor rib injury so it wasn’t to be. We’re looking forward to seeing him on the pitch soon,” said Ingham, who was delighted with Saturday’s win.
“We played some good, expansive rugby,” he said. “Even though Wilmslow are a side who have admitted themselves that they are struggling, it was still a great result for us to finally get a win away from home.
“We were disappointed to have lost a few games that we should’ve won – like Lymm – so to get this win was an important one.”
Nelson’s men will face third from bottom Kendal at home in their next clash.
And despite Kendal’s poor form, he stressed it will not be an easy fixture.
“When you’re at the bottom of the table like they are, every point matters so they will definitely come to challenge us,” said Nelson.
“We can’t afford to drift off like we did against Wilmslow, they scored two tries because we lost focus. It won’t be an easy game, we need to stay focused for the full 80 minutes.”