Kirkby Lonsdale 19

Rossendale 18

THE nerveless Ryan Terry kicked a superb touchline conversion in the dying seconds to earn Kirkby Lonsdale a priceless North Premier victory on Saturday.

Terry crowned a man of the match performance with that nailbiting two points after Stu Storey's last gasp try to settle an absorbing tussle between two very evenly matched side.

Prior to the game a minute's silence was poignantly observed, and the overcast weather matched the sombre mood at Underley Park as a tightly contested game kicked off.

Most of the early exchanges took place between the two 10 metre lines, but as the game developed Kirkby ran through a repertoire of missed tackles, dropped passes, errors and mistakes as momentum was repeatedly handed to the visitors.

A high tackle gave Rossendale a penalty which they converted to break the deadlock and they extended the lead in first half injury time when classy stand off Lewis Allen went over under the posts, the conversion giving Dale a 10-0 advantage at the break.

Kirkby second row Reece Tomlinson was given a straight yellow card for a technical offence and Rossendale extended the lead from the resulting penalty.

That forced Kirkby to rejig and 15 minutes into the half, a revitalised home side opened their account when Ben Walker darted through a gap and fed wing Harry Huddleston who scored in the right corner.

Chris Ramwell put the conversion and a subsequent penalty wide but Kirkby continued to press and reduced the deficit further with prop Dan Thompson' try which Terry converted to put his side within a point.

But back came Rossendale and after they hacked on a loose ball, a try was awarded despite the pile of bodies on the line making a decision on grounding very difficult.

Time was running out for Kirkby but deep into added time, the forwards got a drive going at the Rossendale line and flanker Storey touched down.

The stage was set for Terry's dramatic winning kick, and the home side had a deserved win after a gritty performance which saw big shifts by Reece Tomlinson, Harlan Corrie and off the bench Josh Sheridan.

Kirkby now go eighth in the table and in good spirits as they head to Lymm for a winnable away fixture on the home side's new G4 surface.