MATCH REPORT: ROCHDALE HORNETS 10 - 22 MIDLANDS HURRICANES (BETFRED LEAGUE ONE ROUND 9)

The Canes come together after the final whistle (Credit: Deborah Eastham Photography)

Canes sting Hornets with historic first away victory

Three weeks after the Hurricanes’ five-game unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of North Wales Crusaders, Midlands made the comparatively short trip to the Crown Oil Arena to take on a Rochdale Hornets side that was riding on the back of a three-game winning streak and a desire to leapfrog the Canes into the play-off spots. Only one point separated the two sides after six games, so everybody expected a tightly contested affair between two strong teams. On the more light-hearted side, Gus T had clearly been reading Chairman Mike Lomas’ conversations with Hornets’ Chairman Andy Mazey and brought pest control equipment to deal with Hooper the Hornet (who was nowhere to be found).

Gus on hand as part of the Hurricanes’ pest control unit… (Credit: Deborah Eastham Photography)

The first try of the game came just under eight minutes as Elliott Morris surprised the Rochdale defence by giving a classic show-and-go on the hosts line before burrowing over to open the scores (0-4). The move was preceded by former Hornet Aiden Roden trying his own dummy a few metres from the Rochdale line, and it appeared that the defence didn’t expect that Morris would follow up with more of the same. Jake Sweeting stepped up to take the conversion, adding the extras from just right of the sticks (0-6).

The Canes had an opportunity to score a second try just over five minutes later as Matty Chrimes tried to pounce on a nice grubber from Sully Medforth, however the referee deemed the ball to have rolled over the dead-ball line for a 7-tackle restart. A couple of minutes later, an early short pass from a scrum 30 metres out from our line saw Ross Oakes burst through the Hornet defence only for his efforts to be called back for a forward pass. Rochdale took full advantage of the opportunity and spotted a gap in the Canes defence to slip through before passing inwards to Lewis Else who slid over to score (4-6). Max Flanagan was unable to add the extras, with his kick drifting right of the sticks.

On the 20-minute mark, the Canes had another chance to add a second try as Todd Horner leapt above his counterpart to gather a high bomb from Jake Sweeting and began to round the Hornets defence metres from their line. Knowing he was likely to be tackled on the last short of the line, Todd threw a hopeful offload that unfortunately landed in the grateful arms of a Rochdale player. The game remained even for another ten minutes or so, with the only notable moment being an impressive looking Rochdale attack fell down when a stray pass flew into touch.

Just before the 30-minute mark, a Marcus Green carry saw three Rochdale players struggle to stop his momentum before lifting his left leg and tip-tackling him 20 metres from their own line. Faced with an easy opportunity to add two points, Jake Sweeting called for the kicking tee and duly extended our lead to four points (4-8). That would be Jake’s last real contribution for a spell in the game as he would go off for a head injury assessment on the 33rd minute, and Danny Barcoe had to temporarily step into the halves to partner with Sully Medforth.

The dying moments of the match saw Rochdale desperately seek a momentum-shifting try, with their closest effort seeing them burrow over the line from short range only for a resilient Canes defence to force a knock-on over the line and earn ourselves a 7-tackle restart. The hosts had another chance on the hooter following a high bomb, however this was knocked-on and kicked dead by Matty Chrimes to draw the first half to a close.

Half-time: Rochdale Hornets 4 - 8 Midlands Hurricanes

Zeus Silk and Marcus Green combine to produce a fundamental intervention and prevent a second Rochdale try (Credit: Deborah Eastham Photography)

The second half started strongly for the hosts, with Rochdale earning an early penalty to get themselves into a strong attacking position. From that set the Hornets were able to get their second try of the afternoon as a neat chip inwards from veteran Gregg McNally saw Lewis Else ground the ball just before it bounced dead under the posts (8-8). With an easy conversion presented for Max Flanagan, Rochdale found themselves in the lead for the first time (10-8).

The hosts were only able to stay in the lead for a little over five minutes, as the Canes responded to falling behind with some sustained pressure on the Rochdale try-line and benefitted from Jake Sweeting returning to the field after passing his assessment. A cheeky chip over the Hornets defence by Sully Medforth saw Ross Oakes chase the kick and force a goal-line drop out, and on regaining possession Mikey Wood fed Zeus Silk a short pass five metres from the hosts try-line, with the best-named man in rugby league forcing his way over the whitewash and dropping down despite the best efforts of the Rochdale defence (10-12). Jake Sweeting faced a moderately difficult conversion left of the posts, but his trusty kicking ability saw us restore our four point lead (10-14).

Ex-Hornet Aiden Roden in action for the Canes (Credit: Deborah Eastham Photography)

The next ten minutes saw the Canes continue in search of a third try and some daylight between themselves and Rochdale. Some strong defending saw the Canes drag the Hornets back over their line for a goal-line drop out, and Luis Roberts sought to take advantage of some space down the right edge with a nice carry before the Hornets defence assembled to drag the young winger into touch ten metres out. Another set a few minutes later saw the Canes utilise some momentum following a penalty for a high tackle on Josh Jordan-Roberts, however a last ditch attempt by Sully Medforth to scoot over from dummy-half was spotted by the Hornets defence and we handed over possession on the hosts line.

It would only take a few more minutes for the Canes efforts to pay off and ultimately put the game beyond Rochdale’s reach. Once Midlands got within 20 metres of the line Sully Medforth gathered the ball and sidestepped an attempted tackle before releasing a high bomb from left to right, which saw Luis Roberts pluck the ball out of the air and break away from his counterpart before reaching out and plonking the ball down for his third try in Canes colours (and our third try of the afternoon) (10-18). Despite facing his most difficult conversion of the afternoon, a calm and collected Jake Sweeting launched the ball between the posts with ease and extended our lead to ten points (10-20).

The final 15 minutes saw Rochdale attempt to turn up the heat and get back into the game, but the Canes defence was up to the task and succeeded in dragging the hosts into touch 30 metres from our try-line to derail any hopes Rochdale may have had of a comeback. If anything it was Midlands who looked most likely to score again, with Matty Chrimes collecting another Sully Medforth bomb before offloading ten metres out, only for the referee to pull back play for a forward pass and a Rochdale handover.

Matty Chrimes doing Matty Chrimes things (Credit: Deborah Eastham Photography)

The final five minutes saw all hope dwindle for the Hornets as a swinging arm from Duane Straugheir saw him sin-binned and condemning Rochdale to ending the game with 12-men. The penalty presented Jake Sweeting with an opportunity to kick us into an unassailable three-score lead, and his 100% kicking record on the afternoon was maintained as he slotted the ball from 30 metres out (10-22). To Rochdale’s credit they continued in search of a consolation score, however the Canes were not going to be thwarted and managed to hold up the hosts on the final play to earn themselves a first ever away win over Rochdale.

Head Coach Mark Dunning was ecstatic with his boys after the final whistle and correctly pointed out that everyone on the pitch produced a solid and professional 80-minute performance to keep out a spirited and competent Rochdale outfit. The win temporarily saw the Canes go top of the table, however Workington’s 46-6 away victory over Keighley Cougars on the Sunday saw them leapfrog the Canes on points difference. Mark and his men will therefore need to turn their attention to Whitehaven in two Sunday’s time as the Cumbrians will travel down to The Alexander Stadium in search of revenge following our 52-24 1895 Cup First Preliminary Round win earlier in the season.

Full-time: Rochdale Hornets 10-22 Midlands Hurricanes

Man of the Match:
Mikey Wood (Sponsored by MG Electrical Contractors Ltd)

Tries:
Morris, Silk and Roberts

Conversions:
Sweeting (3/3)

Penalties:
Sweeting (2/2)

Score sequence:
0-4, 0-6, 4-6, 4-8, 8-8, 10-8, 10-12, 10-14, 10-18, 10-20 and 10-22.