Rochdale Hornets 12 - 52 Halifax Panthers

Date published: 08 February 2024

Hornets hosted Halifax in the 1892 Cup at the Crown Oil Arena on Sunday 4 February. Halifax suffered defeat to their League One rivals Oldham last time out and were looking to make amends against Hornets in their first competitive fixture since last season.

The visitors struck first after three minutes courtesy of James Woodburn-Hall as he broke the line after being fed an offload by Kavanagh. Windy conditions saw Joufrett take a while to adjust before he added the 2 points.

Halifax attacked again looking for back-to-back scores with Greg Eden showing good footwork to dance down the wing before Hornets’ Joe Hartley expertly executed a one-on-one strip to send tbe home team on their way.

Adam O’Brien landed a big shot in the pack and Hornets couldn’t hold onto a loose ball leaving the creative Joe Keyes to play in Crooks for the Panthers’ second, Joufrett again converting the try.

The teams traded sets well, and good defence was shown before a nice dummy from Keyes saw Halifax break but put down, then a quick play-the-ball over to Crooks who went over for his second. Joufrett converted the extras putting the Panthers sixteen points in front after 20 minutes.

Centre Luke Forber made an excellent run up to halfway, as Hornets toiled but just couldn’t find a way through the experienced Halifax defence.

A good, looped pass over to Eden saw him race away unopposed for a try in the 30th minute which was quickly converted by Joufrett to make the score-line 0-22 in the visitors’ favour.

From the resulting kick-off, bizarre wind conditions blew Martyn Ridyard’s kick over the 10m line, then back towards halfway into the hands of Dan Nixon, who ran the ball at speed up to the 20m line. But some great defence from Halifax kept them out, even with Hornets' momentum.

Rochdale then began to gain a foothold in the game using the strong running of the middles as a catalyst to gain some momentum and test the Halifax defence. With Lewis Else and Ridyard pulling the strings, Hornets’ looked threatening on the attack whilst tighter in defence. However, the early pressure from Halifax saw them go in at half time with a 0-22 lead.

Hornets started the second half well as Fairbank dropped the ball on the first carry for the Panthers. But the defence was strong, and the Hornets just couldn’t punish the error.

Some pushing and shoving from both teams, trading sets well saw the Panthers score first in the second half, a nice line from Joufrett who passed the ball on to Tibbs to power through. Joufrett added the two.

Hornets didn’t let the Panthers score affect them as they continued toiling in the middle and worked their way up to the try-line where Matt Wilkinson fired a pacey, flat pass into the hands of Ben Killan who broke the Panthers resistance and touched down under the posts. Ridyard converted the score to get Hornets on the board

Straight from kick-off, seemingly buoyed by the Killan effort, Ridyard kicked a beautiful 40/20 giving Hornets the ball where Lewis Else fired an inch perfect pass out to Dan Nixon on the wing who took off and finished in trademark fashion. Ridyard showcased his kicking class again from the touchline to make the score 12-28 in the visitors’ favour.

Hornets applied pressure looking for a route back into the game, with Jordan Andrade making a big impression off the bench with his strong running combined with Ridyard’s kicking game but the couldn’t quite force the issue and get over the whitewash.

As Hornets began to tire in their first competitive game of the season, Halifax brought on ex-NRL star Gareth Widdop who showed his class instantly to release Matty Gee who in turn found Ben Kavanagh to slide over.

With Hornets’ tiring Halifax took full advantage adding three converted tries within the last five minutes of the game with Tom Inman, Gee and Joufrett all getting on the scoreboard to make the final score 12-52 to the visitors.

Hornets will take lots of positives from the game as they competed with quality opposition for large periods of the game with the score blowing out as Hornets began to tire in the last 10 of the tie.

Hornets face Midland Hurricanes next Sunday in the Challenge Cup and will be looking to record their 1st win of the new season.

Full Time: Rochdale Hornets 12 - 52 Halifax Panthers

Rochdale Hornets Tries: Killan, Nixon
Goals: Ridyard (2/2)

Halifax Panthers Tries: Crooks x2, Eden, Gee, Inman, Joufrett, Woodburn-Hall, Kavanagh, Tibbs
Goals: Joufrett (8/9)