L 48-12

By Charlie Hopper

Matty Jones’ side were looking to continue their recent upturn in form but found his side on the back foot from the referee’s whistle. The home side should have opened the scoring in the second minute but a forward pass came to Scarborough’s rescue. Rochdale didn’t have long to wait before taking the lead after they worked the ball wide and scored the games first converted try. Scarborough came fighting back in the 15th minute but Joe Marshall was brought down close to the home side’s line before the ball was turned over. The lead was doubled to 14-0 before the 20 minute mark, as Rochdale began building the phases before scoring in the corner. Will Rennard was then shown the games first yellow card after an accidental offside and Rochdale made the man advantage count with three unanswered tries before half-time. Collins and Howard scoring before the winger went over to give his side a commanding 33-0 lead at the break. 

Heading into the second-half and the Silver Royd outfit came out firing and reduced the deficit to 33-12. First, they were awarded a penalty try then the returning Tom Ratcliffe weaves through the defence to score. Rochdale put an end to Scarborough’s momentum and put the game to bed in the 60th minute. They scored three unconverted tries to extend their advantage to 48-12. The final action of a frustrating afternoon came in the form of a red card for prop Ropeti Ropeti, after he was involved in an off the ball incident. 

Scarborough have a weekend off next week but return to action with a tough trip to Old Brodleians in two weeks.