Saturday 11th October 2025

Regional 1 North West

Rochdale 34

Leek 43

Leek was back to winning ways on Saturday as they posted a 3rd consecutive away win, this time at Rochdale. It was a game in the balance until the end, but the Moorlanders prevailed with a few changes to the team, as Sam Brereton returned to the 1sts at full back along with Alex Fitzmaurice James on the wing. Josh Nadin was on the left wing. Joe Gorman switched to centre with Will Midwinter as Scott Rawlings moved to fly half partnering Joe Byrne at half back.
Joe Newton Taylor, Ed Cheadle and Lewis Dunleavy made up the front row with Tom Hayes moving to lock with Joel Booth. Ollie Powell returned at No.8 with Billy Kidd and George Hunt on the flanks.
Teo Kappakas, Jack Bray and Joel Hine were on the bench.

In the warm Autumn sunshine, Leek took the lead after one minute and were never to surrender it although came close a few times. Retaining ball up bank from the kick off with good rucking, Joe Gorman and then Tom Hayes broke tackles as the experienced half back passed inside for George Hunt to sprint in from the Rochdale 22. Will Midwinter converted and Leek led early 0-7.
6 minutes later and Leek had to clear with a goal line dropout. It fell to the centre who moved the ball quickly left and with good support, the left wing scored in the corner. The conversion missed. 5-7.
On 9 minutes with Leek pressing again in the home 22, they won a penalty for not rolling at the tackle and Will Midwinter converted to extend the lead to 5-10.
On 19 minutes, it looked like Joe Byrne had scored as he streaked up the touchline on the left but a foot in touch denied the scrum half. However, the home 5 metre lineout was stolen by Billy Kidd and Leek worked the ball right and with an overlap Alex Fitzmaurice James went over for the Moorlanders’ 2nd try. Will Midwinter converted and Leek led 5-17.
On 24 minutes, Rochdale were pressing near the Leek line, but the defence held the ball up and won a scrum from which they cleared their lines.
As the half was coming to an end, there were two more scores. On 39 minutes, a high tackle in the Leek 22 allowed Rochdale to kick a penalty from in front of goal. 8-17. Then, with the last play of the half Josh Nadin scored Leek’s 3rd try on the left after Scott Rawlings’ delayed pass found AFJ in space on the right. He made it to near the line before the ball sped left and a long pass from Scott Rawlings to Josh Nadin saw the wing touch down. Will Midwinter’s excellent conversion ended the half on a high for Leek as they led 8-24.

The 2nd half started with Rochdale taking the initiative and scoring two tries in the opening 13 minutes. The first came after 43 minutes following a scrum on their own 10 metre line. The switch play caught Leek off guard and the overlap on the right led to the score. The conversion was good and closed the score to 15-24. 4 minutes later and Lewis Dunleavy was yellow carded for a high tackle as Rochdale broke into the Leek half. The resulting penalty led to a lineout in the Leek 22, but the home side knocked on, and Leek cleared the danger. However, the pressure was mounting and on 53 minutes, a penalty on halfway was taken quickly and it led to the long striding flanker scoring on the right. The conversion was good and the game closed to a two pointer at 22-24.
Leek needed to wrest the ball from the home side, and this happened when Leek’s strong scrum won a penalty on 56 minutes. It led to a lineout in the Rochdale 22 on the left. The subsequent maul drive was only stopped near the line with Tom Hayes electing to let the ball out. The defence was sucked in and long passing led to Sam Brereton touching down unopposed on the right. Will Midwinter’s conversion hit the post and stayed out but Leek had some breathing space at 22-29.
It lasted all of 2 minutes, as Rochdale scored their 3rd try of the half and 4th in the game on 59 minutes. From the kick off, with good ball retention and recycling the ball moved right and another overlap led to a score in the corner. The conversion missed. 27-29.
On 64 minutes, Leek scored again as the game see sawed one way and another. Good forward drives breaking tackles and creating momentum led to the defence being sucked in and then as the ball came wide, the overlap saw AFJ score near the right corner. The conversion was good and Leek led 27-36.
On 70 minutes, Leek was pegged back again as Rochdale scored their 5th try. A penalty for holding on at the tackle led to a quick tap penalty and pace up the right-hand side and plenty of support led to a score. The conversion was good. 34-36.
The last 10 minutes was being played at a feverish pace as both sides went to win the game. Leek went close when creating an overlap with 2 minutes to go and then won a scrum on the Rochdale 22 on 80 minutes. Joe Byrne picked the ball up at the base of the scrum, threw a dummy and sprinted for the line for the try that sealed the match. Will Midwinter converted and at 34-43, there was one last play for Rochdale to get within 7 points of Leek’s score. Alas, the kick off didn’t go the 10 metres and the referee blew for full time.

The 2nd half had seen 7 tries as both teams opened up with the game in the balance until the end. Still Leek held their nerve and ran out winners thanks to their great 1st half performance.
The win means Leek retains 4th place in the league with the top 5 teams all winning.

This Saturday Leek is at home to Wirral in what will be a very tough match. Kick off is at 3pm. Please make a date and come down to support the team as they attempt to win their first home game of the season.

The 2s had a tough match at Ashbourne in Midlands 2 West (West), going down 54-12 to the league leaders. It doesn’t get any easier this Saturday as the 2s welcome Stafford 1sts on top field. Kick off will likely be earlier than 3pm, but please check first and make a point of coming down early to support them.

The 3s had a good away win at Stockport 4ths by 21-46 and moves them up to 3rd place in the NOWIRUL league. This week they have a tough away assignment at tabletop Littleborough 3rds and hopefully they can win again.

Author: J.McDermott