Rochdale Hornets 38 - 22 Doncaster

Chris Riley crossed for his 150th try on his 250th appearance

After back-to-back defeats against York City Knights and Toulouse Olympique, Rochdale Hornets bounced back with a victory over promotion rivals Doncaster to keep their top two hopes alive.

Alan Kilshaw made five changes to the team which travelled to France two weeks ago; Dave Cookson, Chris Riley and Ryan Maneely returned from injury, with Corey Lee and James Tilley recalled.

Dale Bloomfield, Steve Roper, Alex Trumper, Jake Shoel and Mike Ratu made way, and it was a landmark afternoon for the returning Riley as the three time Challenge Cup winner racked up 250 career appearances and also crossed for his 150th try.

It was a perfect start for Hornets, as a short kick off straight from the training ground was regathered by Lewis Galbraith, and after just 26 seconds Cookson marked his return with the opening try.

After defending back-to-back sets, the Hornets line finally gave way at the third attempt when David Foggin-Johnston rose highest to Jordie Hedges’ kick for Doncaster’s reply.

Doncaster took the lead through Louis Sheriff - he barged over after a last tackle kick ricocheted into his path.

Doncaster opened up a 12 point lead when Tom Carr caught the Hornets defence napping on the blind side to send Aaron Jones-Bishop over untouched.

It looked like Hornets would be going into the break behind, until two tries in the final five minutes of the half brought them level, the first of which came from Cookson who was too strong from close range and Riley scored his 150 tries on the hooter to make it 16-16.

Whatever was said in the Hornets changing room worked as they dominated the second half.

Their first try of the half came through Galbraith, who picked a perfect line from Jono Smith’s flat pass to score.

He then came up with an outstanding play to save a certain four pointer, as he chased down Matty Welham from the opposite side of the field before knocking him into touch.

Up the other end of the field Hornets took full advantage, as Danny Yates held up a pass long enough to entice the defenders and put Samir Tahraoui through a gaping hole.

Hornets rounded off a dominant period with another try on 63 minutes, as James Tilley produced a brilliant offload to find Ben Moores, and the hooker wrestled the ball down to open up a 16 point advantage.

With one minute of the contest remaining, Doncaster grabbed a consolation effort as Jordan Howden’s kick was then hacked ahead by Foggin-Johnston, with Jones-Bishop scooping up possession and finding the line for his second try.

There was still time for Hornets to have the last say, as a penalty from the kick off gave them one last attack, and Crook dummied his way over before converting his own effort to round off the win.

Rochdale Hornets: Chris Riley, Jack Holmes, David Cookson, Lewis Galbraith, Corey Lee, Paul Crook, Danny Yates, Warren Thompson, Ben Moore, Samir Tahraoui, Jono Smith, Josh Crowley, Jordan Case.
Substitutes: Ryan Maneely, Jovili Taira, Matty Hadden, James Tilley.
Tries: Ben Moore (64), Samir Tahraoui (56), Paul Crook (80), Lewis Galbraith (7), David Cookson (36, 5), Chris Riley (40)
Goals: Paul Crook (37, 8, 58, 65, 80).

Doncaster: Tom Carr, David Foggin-Johnston, Aaron Jones-Bishop, Sam Doherty, Louis Sheriff, Jordan Howden, Jordie Hedges, Brad Nicholson, Kyle Kesik, Connor Scott, Mason Tonks, Jack Walton, George Milton.
Substitutes: Ryan Wright, Matthew Welham, Mark Castle, Joe Picketts.
Tries: Louis Sheriff (18), Aaron Jones-Bishop (26, 78), David Foggin-Johnston (15).
Goals: Tom Carr (79, 19, 28).

Referee: Tom Grant