Tyldesley RUFC 5 Rossendale 13: TYLDESLEY remain in the bottom four after an eight-point defeat at the hands of well-drilled Rossendale at St. George's Park.

The visitors controlled the set pieces and allowed the Tyldesley back line only brief periods of possession.

The game started very positively for Tyldesley with the forwards driving deep into the Rossendale half before, under pressure, the visitors' fly half kicked from under his own posts straight to the livewire Tyldesley winger Gary Corbett, who scorched in from 20 metres for an early 5-0 lead.

But the domination of the scrums and lineouts allowed Rossendale to move upfield and a failed clearance kick in the left corner saw Rossendale score a converted try. With a couple of minutes left in the half Rossendale added a penalty to go 10-5 up at the interval.

Tyldesley tried manfully with the ball they had but a combination of good tackling and lack of options brought little in the way of reward.

Rossendale extended their lead with another well-taken penalty and a triple replacement in the pack did little to effect the outcome of the game, which was lost from the very first scrum and lineout.

On a bad day at the office, Mark Dickinson and Eddie Wallbank made some good ground in the backs and Shaun Pulman and Andrew Simpson were the pick of the forwards for work rate alone.

On Saturday Tyldesley travel to Salford to take on De La Salle.

Tyldesley Knights' recent good run ended at Rossendale, where again the home forwards controlled the game for a 16-6 win. Tyldesley's points came from the boot of fly half Fraser Mackintosh.

Tyldesley Dragons also tasted defeat with a 7-3 loss against Montell. The visitors' physical presence in the scrums stifled any detailed play in the always dangerous Tyldesley back line, where Paul Hankinson landed a penalty for the Dragons' only points of the day.