Rochdale Hornets 24 - 30 Oldham Roughyeds

Photo: Jackie Meredith

Rochdale Hornets v Oldham Roughyeds

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Rochdale Hornets fell to their first defeat against Oldham this season in their Bank Holiday Monday derby clash.

Hornets had clawed their way back into the game after a poor first half, but they couldn’t turn pressure into points in a period when the momentum was in their favour in the second half.

The defeat means that Oldham and Swinton Lions are just one point behind now, with next week’s encounter with the latter becoming even more crucial.

Oldham opened the scoring through Joe Burke, off the back of back-to-back penalties Matthew Wilkson sent him over under the posts. Luke Hooley converted.

Hornets responded through Chris Riley; he collected Lewis Palfrey’s cut-out ball to finish well in the corner and pick up a four pointer.

Within minutes Oldham were over again; David Hewitt’s towering bomb was spilled by Riley, and a couple of tackles later Luke Adamson forced his way over.

Hornets came up with an immediate response, when a Danny Yates’ grubber was dropped by the Oldham defence and Jake Eccleston pounced to cut the deficit.

Palfrey executed a brilliant tackle when he shot out of the line to force a knock on, only to be judged to have knocked on himself.

A penalty from the next set then led to Hooley adding a penalty goal.

On the half hour mark Lewis Galbraith was sent to the sin bin, with the referee saying he tripped Hooley after the fullback had made a break.

The man advantage paid off for Oldham, as the ball was shipped out wide to Adam Clay for a walk-in try.

Five minutes from the break Jono Smith was forced from the field with a head injury, with blood pouring from his nose after a nasty clash of heads, which ended his afternoon.

Eccleston went close to grabbing a second soon after, but Oldham led 18-8 at half-time.

Hornets started the second half on top, and within seven minutes Ryan Maneely darted over from dummy half to put his side within four points.

A sustained period of pressure on the Oldham try line followed, however Hornets allowed chance after chance to go begging, and failed to post any points in a crucial period of the game.

With 11 minutes left on the clock Burke charged over for his second to land Hornets a killer blow.

Rob Massam had made his long-awaited to return from injury, coming on from the bench, and he somehow found space to score from Galbraith’s flick pass with five minutes to go. Palfrey couldn’t add the conversion, but the deficit was cut to six points.

Lee Mitchell then came up with an unforgivable knock-on inside his own half, which resulted in Oldham putting the game out of reach. Ant Walker tried to stop Hewitt attempting a drop-goal, before the halfback stepped away from the tackle and sent Hooley over under the posts.

There was still time for a Massam break to lead to Jo Taira scoring a late converted try, but before the game could be restarted the hooter sounded, condemning Hornets to defeat.

Rochdale Hornets: Declan Kay, Kevin Penny, Jake Eccleston, Lewis Galbraith, Chris Riley, Lewis Palfrey, Danny Yates, Lee Mitchell, Ryan Maneely, Jo Taira, Jono Smith, Jordan Case, Ant Walker. Subs: Lewis Hatton, Gavin Bennion, Matty Hadden, Rob Massam.

Tries: Riley, Eccleston, Maneely, Massam, Taira.
Goals: Palfrey (2).

Sin bin: Galbraith (30 – tripping).

Oldham RLFC: Luke Hooley, Adam Clay, Ben Morris, George Tyson, Kameron Pearce Paul, Scott Leatherbarrow, David Hewitt, Jack Spencer, Matthew Wilkinson, Joe Burke, Liam Thompson, Liam Bent, Luke Adamson. Subs: Kenny Hughes, Sadiq Adebiyi, Michael Ward, Sam Gee.

Tries: Burke (2), Adamson, Clay, Hooley.
Goals: Hooley (5).

Referee: Gareth Hewer.