Glossop sunk by five-try Schofield
ON a wild and stormy afternoon at Moorgate Avenue Rochdale welcomed Glossop who had three wins out of four this season.
Dale had lost Fly half Keelan Bradley to illness so in came Spud Green at No.10 and a welcome return to Chris Hodgkinson in the 2nd row.
The game started with Glossop as expected pressing the Rochdale line with their big pack and impressive looking backs linking well, two penalties gave them an early 6-0 lead with only ten minutes gone.
Lots of pressure but good Dale defence the penalty count started to mount Glossop used the wind well and a series of deep kicks pegged the home side back in their own 22 another penalty with a yellow card for Brad Fox saw Dale down to 14 men in a repeat of last week’s game.
The defence held on and eventually a scrum on the visitors 22 led to a good break by Aidy Gleeson he was stopped by what appeared to be a high tackle but the referee allowed play on and after the ball had passed through several hands a chip over the Glossop defence by Spud Green found Josh Schofield speeding through to score his first try the conversion attempt by Ollie Coldman went wide so 5-6 with 20 minutes gone.
Dale had to tackle well and try not to give away so many penalties the referee was keen on not releasing and series of scrums saw Dale defending on their 10 metre line until Glossop were penalized for the same offence and Coldman cleared to the 22 at this point Eddie Shanks who was having another great game had to go off with an injury Chris Hodgkinson took over at the back of the line out and started to dominate with clean takes the ball was moving to the backs through Green and Danny Joesbury, Dale were soon on their opponents 22 and a good break by Hodgkinson saw him penalized for not releasing just short of the line.
The penalty count was levelling up as Dale applied the pressure and it was the returning Jack [spud] Green who broke through three tacklers to score close to the posts Coleman converted 12-6.
With their noses in front Dale pressed hard and despite penalties when tackling and being tackled, good runs by Si Moore and Schofield took them close to the line a final pass saw Pat Gillan squeeze in at the corner 17-6 as half time approached .
The 2nd half started with Ross Hartley and Harry Hayes brought on in a similar move to last week and with Shanks returning after his knock it was all Dale with great passing moves from midfield by Green and Joesbury and solid runs from Gleeson and Jake Castree had Glossop rocking finally another well placed grubber kick from Green found Schofield going through at pace to score his 2nd try 22-6.
In an almost identical move a good break by Ross Hartley opened up the visitors defence and a cheeky chip over the full back was collected by Schofield to complete his hat trick converted by Coleman 29-6.
Mention must be made of the Dale pack who were winning most scrums and line out ball with Kyle Parry at hooker and Harry Hill and Jonny Bradley tackling everything that moved with Hartley and Hayes at wing forward the Glossop backs were feeling the strain this spilled over with a bit of handbags between Hartley and the Glossop hooker Moore the referee handled it well and Dale had a scrum a break by Joesbury from the back of the scrum saw the ball flicked wide to Green who drew defenders then chipped the ball over their heads for the rampant Schofield to steam in and score his fourth try of the afternoon 34-6. Glossop who were used to scoring four tries a game were determined to cross the line and despite brave defending the visitors managed to go in by the posts after 65 mins for a converted try 34-13.
It was hard work now for the Dale defence and the referee decided that a yellow card was deserved for Moore for an infringement in the tackle.
A deep clearance kick from Coleman found Glossop breaking from their own 22 another high tackle saw Dale concede their 14th penalty of the game.
Glossop again tried the high kick but it was collected by Gillan on the wing another grubber kick through the visitors defence and the same result as Schofield steamed through to score his 5th try of the game converted by Coleman 41-13.
The next Dale attack was thwarted by a high tackle on scrum half Joesbury for which the Glossop 2nd row was rightly yellow carded. In the last attack of the game Glossop had a scrum on their own 22 the ball was passed out but was intercepted by Pat Gillan who raced in under the posts for a converted try 48-13… the final score.
A great performance by all the team but special mention to Spud Green and Josh Schofield who stood out in this try fest.
Dale move up to 4th in the league going into the free weekend with another home game against Winnington Park on the 15th of October.