Rochdale 15 - 25 Kendal

FLYING winger Dini Noyo went over the line in the last action of the match to give Kendal a bonus point win over a battling Rochdale outfit.

Kendal's Chris Park exchanged first half tries with a Rochdale player as the sides went in level at the break at Moorgate Avenue.

The Shap Road club were behind for ten second-half minutes but ultimately came out on top as Noyo added the third of three tries in the 83rd minute.

"Whenever things are going to be tight in the league it is an advantage to get the bonus point but you can't necessarily go looking for it with abandon but it's obviously an added bonus at the end of the year," said director of rugby Steve Whitehead.

"A win is a win away from home. It is a dangerous tactic if you go permanently from the whistle to get a bonus point.

"We were in control of the game and always looked the better side. They were a good outfit, perhaps better than we thought, but we wouldn't have prepared in any different way. They were very competitive and never let us get out of sight. It wasn't until towards the end that the pressure wore them down."

Kendal had the lead after just five minutes when Noyo made a break down the left. The move was then taken on by centre Damian Armstrong, who, when stopped managed to stayed on his feet, which allowed James Gough to take the ball.

It was again moved at speed to the left, where Park had a clear run to the line. Glenn Weightman added the difficult conversion.

But Rochdale struck back almost immediately. Kendal failed to deal with the kick off and the Rochdale forwards put the ball through several phased of play.

When a forward broke away he found his pass to the left wing cut out by the Kendal defence, so instead went for the line himself, and whilst stopped before the line, he was able to reach out to touch the ball down. The conversion was successful to tie the scores in the last action to trouble the scoreboard in the first 40 minutes.

Kendal started the second half well and had an opportunity to take the lead but a penalty kick fell short.

Instead it was the home team which took the lead after nine minutes with a Oli Coldman penalty after Kendal had been caught offside in midfield.

Weightman drew the scores level with a penalty of his own after Rochdale had been caught slowing the ball at a Kendal ruck.

Kendal regained the lead after twenty five minutes.

A lineout was won on the left and the ball moved into midfield. It appeared the ball may have been knocked on, but the referee was happy, and Weightman went through a gap to score, but was unable to add the conversion.

Kendal’s third try came shortly afterwards when Noyo gathered a kick out of defence.

Again there was a hint of a knock on, but the referee played on. Whilst Noyo was stopped close to the line, he had support from Matty Houghton to go over for the try.

Rochdale were not giving up and were immediately back in the game with an unconverted try with ten minutes left on the clock to bring them to within five points of Kendal.

But the game was sealed when Weightman sent a long kick to the corner for Noyo to chase.

And whilst there was a possibility the ball was lost before he grounded it, the referee was happy, and Kendal had their bonus point.

The referee immediately blew for full time after the unsuccessful conversion.

Kendal team: Chris Park, Zane Butler, Damian Armstrong, Danny Barker, Dini Noyo, Glenn Weightman, James Gough, Duncan Green (C), Garry Holmes, Liam Hayton, Phil Murphy, Ben Leacock, Josh Chaplow, Matty Houghton, James Thompson. Subs: Richard Harryman, Nathan Wooff, Mark Carruthers