ALTRINCHAM Kersal first XV were crowned Lancs/Cheshire Division One champions after a 22-18 win at Rochdale.

Never an easy place to get a result, it was Rochdale who opened the scoring with a penalty.

Altrincham Kersal soaked up the pressure and began to apply their own.

A driving forwards move saw Paul Mallaband crash over for their first try, followed shortly after by an excellent break from the backs which saw John Coulson give a sublime offload to his brother James who raced in at the corner.

The teams went into half time with the score 10-3 to Kersal.   

Rochdale started the second half with a further penalty to reduce the deficit, however, some solid work by the visitors resulted in a driving move from the forwards and Micah Dyos went over for the try.

The score was now 15-6 in Altrincham's favour but Rochdale were far from finished and countered with a try to make the score 15-11.

Kersal kept up their unrelenting pressure, though, with a try by Sam Pitt which was converted by Jacob Daldry.

Rochdale replied with a converted try of their own but could not stave off defeat.

The match boiled down to fantastic effort from the forwards in all aspects of the game, especially the scrum and driving mauls, and some good handling and tactical kicking from the backs, and of course some epic defence from the whole side.

The bonus-point win saw Altrincham Kersal finish the season at the league summit with 105 points – seven clear of local rivals Bowdon.