Hornets coach team talk did the trick

Rochdale Hornets Coach Ian Talbot

Hornets coach Ian Talbot’s half-time talk did the trick as his team produced a sizzling second-half display to beat a well-drilled South Wales Scorpions side 36-10 at Spotland on Sunday.

The home team were pushed hard in the first half and needed a Danny Yates try on the hooter to take them into the break level at 10-10.

Talbot’s words of wisdom, though, had the desired effect, Hornets scoring 26 unanswered points to run out worthy winners.

He said: “I thought South Wales deserved a lot of credit for their performance. They put up a fight. The first half was a dog fight, really physical. We took that chance right on half time to go in level and spoke about just hanging in there for the first 10 minutes because we knew they would come at us big and strong down the middle.

“The ball control was also significant. In the first half we were at 65 per cent and they were at 90 per cent, so we spoke about respecting possession, not trying to score on every play but building pressure instead of forcing passes. We only had one good ball set in the first half and kicked away possession on tackle three.

“We also spoke about being smarter and having some momentum in their half. I think in the second half once we got the momentum right at the start we never let it slip.

“We only made one handling error in the second half which is fantastic. That tells its own story. We put that little bit more pressure and defended well and they dropped their ball control down.

"In the second half we simplified it a little bit, played to our strengths; the lads dug in and really responded.

“It’s two weeks on the bounce we haven’t conceded in the second half.

"We set our goals at the start of the season, one of which was not to concede more than 16 points in any game and this last couple of weeks we have managed to do it.

“The players are working hard defensively and they showed a big improvement in the second.

“It was a good response from the half-time talk and I am pleased with the win.”

Hornets can now look forward to entertaining Gateshead at Spotland next Sunday.

The north-eastern club is finding some form, having recently won in South Wales and narrowly losing to a last-minute try at home to North Wales on Sunday.

It’s a game the Hornets boss won’t be taking lightly.

Talbot added: “It’s Gateshead at home next week. I believe they ran North Wales Crusaders very close yesterday, a last-minute win for Crusaders, who seem to be having a bit of a wobble.

“We have turned Gateshead over twice this season but won’t be counting our chickens; we need to work just as hard as we did in that second half to get the result.”