Kilshaw tells side they must wise up

ROCHDALE Hornets head coach Alan Kilshaw says his players need to be smarter following their 26-20 defeat to Halifax on Sunday.

Hornets suffered the narrow defeat at the Crown Oil Arena, and Kilshaw thought his players need to be wiser with some of their choices on the pitch.

“We could have gone in at half-time 8-0 up so we have got to be smarter. The second half grind took its toll on us and we’ve been lacking match practice, but I’m not using that as an excuse,” he said.

“Things could have gone better in the game but our effort and commitment was there. There was a big improvement since the first half of the game we had last Monday, and we played some pleasing stuff at times.

“We’ve just got to be smarter. Doing all of that defending well take its toll on the lads. There were a few penalties that we gave away, but I was pleased with the response and improvements we made.

“We don’t want to be that team who is satisfied with getting beat though, it’s a performance and points based industry and we need points on the board.”

Kilshaw chose to rest Dec Kay following a bruising encounter against Dewsbury Rams last Monday, but the Hornets boss insists he is still a key part of his plans.

“I thought Dec got beat up a bit the other night, so we need to look after him. He’s a young kid and this is a 30 game season,” he said.

“Dec will play and feature plenty of times for us as he’s a quality player, but physically and mentally it was just better to leave him out.”

Hornets are back in action this weekend when they head to France for a difficult match against Toulouse Olympique.