ALEX Green was the hero of the bitter cold hour as his solitary try was enough to beat arch rivals Rossendale.

The hard working flanker crashed over the line to score midway through the second half to finally break the deadlock.

In an evenly contested game where no quarter was asked for or given, both sides matched each up front and in the backs. And despite the conditions on a very hard pitch, tackles went in hard as both sides struggled to take control in the first half.

Burnley's Eamon Walsh lead by example in his usual no-nonsense manner while his side was driven on by stand-off Nick Ralph and the excellent running of the young Alan Bowers and centre Mark Lord.

Burnley upped their workrate in the second half, and started to dominate proceedings. And the experience of Ged Entwistle in the back row along with the running of his fellow flanker Green led to the latter going over for the only score of the game.

Overall the Burnley side deserved the victory, but on such a bitterly cold afternoon all who took part can hold their heads high, in particular Robin Reid who couldn't have picked a worse day to make his debut in the front row.

ROSSENDALE 3RDS...0

BURNLEY 3RDS...5