Kilshaw laments Hornets’ poor fare

ROCHDALE Hornets head coach Alan Kilshaw said he would have wanted a refund if he had paid to see his team’s match against Doncaster on Sunday.

Hornets managed to pick up a 21-8 victory over Doncaster at Spotland, meaning they end the Kingstone Press League 1 regular season in second place ahead of the Super 8s.

While his side may have got the win,

‘It was dreadful and a poor advert for League 1 rugby’

Kilshaw was less than impressed with the performance he witnessed from his side.

“I’d have been asking for my money back if I paid to watch that. It was dreadful and a poor advert for League 1 rugby,” he said.

“You can look at the weather and the downpour and say that the ball was a bit greasy too, but we did a lot of things that we didn’t practice.

“I know that Doncaster’s coach Gary Thornton will be disappointed with how his players performed error wise too, but they had

some players missing.

“We talk about momentum swings, and at 6-0 I thought we were in complete control, but then we missed touch with a penalty which is a sin.

“After that we didn’t have much possession and then they scored a try. It was scrappy and we were poor with the ball, which is something we haven’t usually been.

“If you look at the table, I think we’ve scored the second most points this season, but we were poor in attack.

“One positive is that we only let in one try and we defended pretty well, but Doncaster did have a few players missing in key areas, so it will be much tougher when we play them again.

“If we play like we did next time then Doncaster will beat us.

“We need to review the game and know that the performance is unacceptable. If we play like that in the next stages then we won’t be second for long.”

While Kilshaw wasn’t happy with how his team performed, he admits he is happy with his side for finishing in second place.

“In terms of consistency across the year it’s a great achievement to be in second and only two points behind Toulouse,” he said.

“There is a long way to go still, but all of the teams in and around us apart from Toulouse have to come to Spotland again, so we will take a lot out of that.

“The lads deserve a lot of credit, and so do the support stuff, so now we need to perform in the Super 8s.”

Hornets will have home games against York City Knights, Doncaster, Keighley Cougars and Hunslet Hawks during the Super 8s, with away games coming against Toulouse Olympique, Barrow Raiders and London Skolars.