Hornets 28 Hunslet Hawks 22

Hornets mounted a superb comeback

Rochdale Hornets staged a superb second-half comeback against Hunslet Hawks at rainswept Spotland, running out 28-22 victors after trailing 22-10 at the half-time whistle.

John Stankevitch’s men racked up five tries on their way to a fifth consecutive league win and condemned high-flying Hawks to only their second defeat this season.

“I’m really pleased. We’d put lots of hard work in. To be honest I was always confident that if we played 100% we’d win,” revealed Stankevitch.

“It was a massive performance in the second half. We were down deservedly. We weren’t poor but needed to sort out certain areas.

“It was upbeat in the changing room at half time. We knew why we had conceded. It was down to individual errors, so I had to give a telling-off to a few of them.

“In the second half we were more direct and defensively excellent.”

In the build-up to the clash the Spotland gaffer had labelled the match as the “toughest” of the season and he insisted that the comeback was a “different type of result”.

Danny Samuel and Wayne English ran in first-half tries as Hornets trailed by 12 at the break, but scored three tries without reply in the second period, Dean Gorton, Andy Saywell and Paul Crook getting on the scoresheet in a clinical ten-minute burst. It was the first time that the Hawks from West Yorkshire had failed to score in a half of rugby this season.

Hornets also had to play with a man less for parts of both halves, Paul Raftery receiving a double sin-binning.

“It wasn’t the best performance in terms of flair but it was the best team performance in terms of digging in together,” added Stankevitch.

“In the second half we both had opportunities, but we took ours and they didn’t. We handled the pressure better. They wilted under our line speed.

“Man of the match was Wayne English by a mile. He was a constant threat. Craig Ashall did well at 13 and in the second half the wingers and half backs led from the front.”

Hornets consolidate a top-four position and continue to look up the table. For the coach, a successful season was never in doubt:

“I always thought we could do well and I wouldn’t have signed a contract if I didn’t think we could get promoted. I have lots of belief in myself and all the players I’ve brought in and I’ve been trying to get them thinking in the same way.”

Hornets take on South Wales RLFC at The Gnoll next Sunday (20 June) in the first of three consecutive fixtures on the road.