As usual, we gave the visitors a head start with Rochdale first on the scoreboard, not through lack of effort, just playing against a good side and they exploited us in the right areas 5 - 0 however Wids responded in the right way, dug in and Matt Blakey showing power to get over for the home side and all square at 5 - 5

With the wind in our faces it was hard to get good field position but with Alfie Mather and Zak Mannion linking up from deep inside the Wids half and having a run, Rochdale couldn’t live with the pace and strength of both with Zak crossing the white wash and taking it central for an easier conversion by Alex Glover 12 - 5.

Rochdale came to play though and worked up the pitch, a penalty (maybe two!) gave them what they needed, points on the board 12 - 12 and it looking like it was going to be a”We score, you score” type of day but with not long to go in the first half, against the wet and windy conditions Alex Glover put a nice cross field kick in to exploit space out wide, Zak Mannion collected then fed Charlie Cross for his first of the day.

Half time 17 - 12 and into the changing rooms for a warm! Talk was all about controlling the ball therefor the game, winning the contact areas and carry on with the positives.

Second half got underway and with the rain really beginning to come down hard, it was a leveller in many respects but the Wids wanted to play, with a Wids scrum just outside the Rochdale 22m, the backs put on a nice piece of rugby with Charlie Cross getting his second of the game, Alex Glover converting 24 - 12

With the game looking to be getting out of reach of Rochdale they responded well and started to claw their way down the pitch and got a score 24 - 17, starting to get a little too close for comfort.

From the kick off though, the Wids pressured the visitors, keeping them pinned back then Jack Gilhooley got the ball and with shouts of “Build pressure” Jack showed great strength to keep pushing into numerous defenders before getting it over the line! Alex Glover converting 31 - 19 and a nice lead building but the rain coming down even heavier now!

The game started to get scrappy, no fault of any of the players from both teams but the conditions really did deteriorate, but Wids came to play, Alex Glover following up his clearance kick to charge down the Rochdale kick return, the ball was loose for a hard chasing Logan Milne to give it a nudge or two forward and dotted it down, Alex Glover obviously wearing his kicking boots as converted to make it 38 - 19.

Taking nothing away from Rochdale but we gifted them field position through ill discipline which like any good team, they converted to points 38 - 24.

With around 7 mins to go, it was all about closing the game out, Rochdale pushed hard but a great defensive effort from the Wids kept them in their half, errors creeping into both sides meant it was a slow end to the game but the Wids lads deserved the win at full time at 38 - 24

Thanks to both sets of players for an entertaining game, despite the heavy rain and hard wind.

Man of the match - Matt Blakey, superb effort across the park and 70mins at Prop is a graft on any day but even Moore so with the weather how it was.

Next week we look forward to visiting newly promoted Fylde