There was a sense that it wasn’t going to be Wilmslow’s day, when a howler of a dropped pass in the 22 gifted the initiative to the hosts.

Just moments later, Rochdale flanker Ross Hartley, cantered in under the posts for his second score of the afternoon. 

That was right at the start of the second half and, five minutes later, the Wolves forced a penalty five metres from the Rochdale line.

It was a perfect opportunity to prod into touch for a catch and drive to reduce the deficit to one score.

Unfortunately, hooker Alex Donaldson was in the sinbin and the stand-in thrower had failed twice to find his target so, despite being a man short, the Wolves opted for a scrum and unsurprisingly were heaved off it by a full Rochdale pack.

After that little was seen of the Wolves as an attacking force. 

There were some brave sorties out of defence, particularly from left winger Sam Cutts and Ben Day – who’s adamant that he had a perfectly good try disallowed – but everything was from  deep and any time a promising position was built, the Wolves were promptly penalised and forced back. 

In a normal game between two reasonably well-matched sides, the penalty count ends up more or less even but on this occasion, the referee found cause to penalise the Wolves three times more often than the home side.

Both sides wanted to play decent rugby, but the disparity remains a mystery.

Wolves coach Brendan Thomas just shrugged his shoulders and said: “I didn’t think the game warranted two yellow cards to each side and if it had been managed more empathetically, then both sides would have got more out of it.”

The Wolves were first to score after 10 minutes, when they turned over a ruck and moved the ball quickly to the left, where full back Oli McCall fed Day who had come in off the right wing to score. 

Their second score, on the quarter-hour, originated from an attacking lineout.

The ball was moved to the right and then back to the left where Dominic Clancy took the scoring pass. 

Before half-time, Craig Cooper broke out of a tackle before being hauled down just short and Clancy couldn’t hang on to the ball as he went for the line. 

But that was about as good as it got for the Wolves.

Their downfall came from too many misdirected kicks out of defence when under pressure. 

Instead of going into space,  into touch or allowing the chasers to put the receivers under pressure, they went comfortably into the hands of Rochdale wingers, Jimmy Flitcroft and Richard West.

The hosts’ first try came on the half-hour after Flitcroft ran a kick back, leaving space on the left for West to cross.

Ten minutes later, West picked up a loose kick and ran it back before chipping the defence, collecting his own kick and putting Ross Hartley in for his first try. 

The simplicity of West’s play belied the skill he had shown on the ball.

There was still everything to play for at half-time but Hartley’s second try and a further score from West on the hour mark settled the matter. 

Penned back as much by the referee as by their opponents, the Wolves looked to lose shape, patience and heart. 

The home side could easily have added a further brace of scores in the closing plays and maybe should have done.

Rochdale have developed their ground into something of a showpiece but it hasn’t proved to be something of a happy hunting ground for Wilmslow in recent years. 

The Wolves now face a challenge to raise their game for the visit of Liverpool St Helens next weekend, and Thomas and his team now have a job on their hands.