No capital gains
ROCHDALE Hornets were left to rue missed opportunities and poor refereeing decisions as they were beaten 28-8 by London Broncos at Trailfinders Sports Ground.
After a solid 40 minutes, in which they went into the sheds 8-6 ahead, they failed to register a point in the second half and ran out of steam after repelling sustained pressure on their own line.
It was a great opportunity to pick up a win against the odds, and their afternoon started brightly as Rob Massam crossed on the left edge, as Hornets forced a knock on and took full advantage through their wide man, however Lewis Palfrey couldn’t convert.
Lewis Galbraith came up with a great tackle on the left edge to force a knock on from Api Pewhairangi, before the returning Gary Middlehurst went desperately close to touching down off the back of a London error from Danny Yates’ kick, but the loose forward knocked on when reaching for the white line.
The visitors had their best spell soon after as Palfrey and Yates forced back-to-back goal-line drop-outs, with the pressure turning into points as they opted to run the ball on the last tackle to send Massam crashing over on the short side for his second. Palfrey missed again with the conversion attempt.
An error from Miles Greenwood led to the hosts’ opener, as William Barthau’s towering bomb was spilt by the Rochdale fullback and Pewhairangi scooped up the dropped ball to cross for a converted effort.
The away team forced a goal-line drop-out straight from the kick-off but couldn’t capitalise, before Elliot Kear and Middlehurst were sin-binned for a coming together.
Early in the second period Palfrey missed with a penalty goal attempt, and what followed was sustained pressure from the hosts as Rochdale were forced to defend repeat set after repeat set.
It stemmed from a Yates knock-on, which fell into the path of Pewhairangi who raced away and was hauled down by a great cover tackle from Galbraith. Massam then came up with a try saver as he cut-out a pass but couldn’t hold on to the ball, with Chris Riley knocking a pass into touch which could have also led to a try.
Palfrey then kicked out on the full as they piled more pressure on themselves, before he forced an error to make up for it.
They finally had their breakthrough as Barthau evaded a tackle with a step before sending Daniel Harrison over past a tiring defence, with Dixon missing the conversion attempt.
The next turning point came soon after when Jono Smith’s deft pass at the line sent Galbraith racing through a hole, but he ignored Massam on his outside when the winger looked certain to be in for a hat-trick try.
Rochdale opened up their opponents again when Palfrey’s inside ball sent Greenwood racing through, with Yates in support, before he was hauled down by a high tackle which went unpunished and Middlehurst was hit off the ball on the next tackle which was also missed by the officials.
Off the back of that set they were in as Jarrod Sammut took on the line and found a way through, before tagging on the extras and the visitors began to run out of steam.
A high tackle from Jo Taira resulted in all 26 players coming together as the Fijian was sin binned, and two late tries through Adrian Purtell and Jay Pitts saw the score line flatter the hosts.
Alex Walker, Rhys Williams, Elliot Kear, Adrian Purtell, Kieran Dixon, Api Pewhairangi, William Barthau, Mark Offerdahl, James Cunnigham, Mark Ioane, Daniel Harrison, Jay Pitts, Matt Gee; Subs: Jarrod Sammut, Sadiq Adebiyi, Junior Roqica, Ben Evans
Pewhairangi (32), Harrison (62), Sammut (69), Purtell (75), Pitts (78) Goals: Dixon 2/3, Sammut 2/2
Miles Greenwood, Chris Riley, Jake Eccleston, Lewis Galbraith, Rob Massam, Lewis Palfrey, Danny Yates, Matty Hadden, Ben Moores, Gavin Bennion, Jono Smith, Josh Crowley, Gary Middlehurst; Subs: Ryan Maneely, Jo Taira, Samir Tahraoui, Jordan Case
Massam (12, 29) Goals: Palfrey
0/3