ON A pitch made heavy by overnight rain, Rossendale came out of their recent UniBond first division dip with a sterling performance in the North East on Saturday afternoon.

They made the most of the early running with Craig Sargeson combining well with Gary Williams, Rossendale's loan signing from Accrington Stanley.

Dale were denied early on when Jerome Fitzgerald broke clear and his long-range shot was well saved by the keeper. However, in the 25th minute, Rossendale took a deserved lead when Williams challenged the Spennymoor keeper as he tried to clear the ball outside his area and cleverly lobbed the ball into the unguarded net.

Five minutes later Spennymoor were level when Anthony Lee scored direct from a free kick on the edge of the area.

Exchanges were fairly even for the rest of the half with chances being made at both ends.

Five minutes into the second half Dale were unlucky not to retake the lead as the ball was eventually hacked away from the Spennymoor goalmouth following a scramble in the penalty area.

An over-officious set of officials spoilt the run of play with a series of bewildering and late decisions and neither side was able to maintain the flow of what was now a good and even game, with both sides having chances to take the points.

Both defences held firm until late into injury time when Mark Andrews in the Rossendale goal made an excellent save to keep a point for Rossendale which they fully deserved in what was their best performance for some time.

SPENNYMOOR UTD...1 ROSSENDALE...1