Hornets made to labour for Cup progress
ROCHDALE Hornets booked their place in the fifth round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup with a hard-fought 20-8 victory over NCL Premier side Normanton Knights.
The amateur outfit battled hard, and scored the only points of the second period in a display they can be proud of.
Rochdale did enough in the first period, thanks to a brilliant display from Rob Massam as he picked up a brace of tries.
Alan Kilshaw handed Seta Tala his debut, as the trialist became the latest of a long-line of Fijians to represent the club.
Callum Mulkeen also featured for the first time, as Pat Moran was recalled by Warrington Wolves and Luke Adamson missed out due to a rib injury.
Hornets started in the perfect manner, as Rob Massam broke straight from a scum on his own 20 metre line to race under the sticks early on. Lewis Palfrey’s conversion made it 6-0.
A stray hand caught Gary Middlehurst in the face during a tackle, forcing him from the field, which led to Tala appearing from the bench.
Then, Deon Cross found space on the left edge and raced into a gap before finding Dany Yates in support, with the halfback crossing for a four pointer.
Dec Kay was next to score, as he skipped across the defensive line before darting over from close range to open up a 16-0 advantage.
Normanton started to get a stranglehold on the game as they piled pressure on the Hornets line, with a clever chip over the top almost ending in a try for Connor Wilson.
The Knights fullback did find his way over soon after though, as he took on the line and stepped past an attempted tackle from Palfrey to touch down.
Hornets hit back through Massam, as after Hurst and Cross had made way on the right hand side the Welsh winger dove in from Billy Brickhill’s pass on the opposite edge.
As the hooter sounded Hornets were handed a penalty, which Palfrey failed to find touch with, and as Normanton chased down a drop-goal attempt Kieran Hinchcliffe looked certain to cross in the corner.
That was until Kay managed to come up with a great try saver to force the halfback into touch and send Rochdale into the sheds with a 20-4 lead.
With driving snow filling the air in Featherstone during the second half both sides were locked in an arm-wrestle as Hornets came up with a number of errors.
The Knights built pressure and were rewarded for their efforts when the second-half deadlock was finally broken by Wilson as he latched onto a grubber for his second of the afternoon.
With the snow storm in full flow, both sides looked for a try in an end-to-end finish to the tie, but the hooter sounded with Rochdale heading into the next round thanks to a 20-8 victory.
Although they bowed out of the competition, the Knights have done so with their head held high as Kilshaw’s men were able to look ahead to the draw for the next round.