Hornets end run of losses in derby
ROCHDALE Hornets head coach Alan Kilshaw says it was a huge relief after his side’s long winless run came to an end with an impressive 38-28 victory against local rivals Oldham Roughyeds.
Hornets claimed bragging rights against their neighbours after the hardfought victory at Bloomfield Road during the Summer Bash event.
Oldham led 26-8 at one stage, but a second half turnaround from Hornets saw them come out on top.
It was Rochdale’s first win for 10 games, and Kilshaw was glad to finally end their bad run of form.
“It’s a relief to be back in the winning circle, and it’s especially pleasing because of the way we won it,” he said.
“In the first half we weren’t that far off. The tries we conceded were a bit soft as two were off kicks and there were a few missed tackles from us, but I thought we were quite good with the ball.
“There were a few difficult conversion attempts for our tries and we wouldn’t have been that far away if we would have nailed them.
“We had to fix some things up at half-time and we responded well and did that, so to keep them out in the second half was really pleasing.
“We spoke to the players in the week about showing we were a resilient team, and we’ve faced a lot of adversity this season.
“There have been some tough calls against us in games but we’ve stuck together and shown unity, especially in Saturday’s game.
“Any derby win is good but to come back from a deficit like that when a few things hadn’t gone our way shows what this group is all about.”
The win for Hornets again shows that they can step up to the plate on the big stage, after their promotion securing victory in Toulouse last season.
While Kilshaw is glad that his team can perform on certain occasions, he hopes it will happen more consistently.
“It’s something we have to address.
“It’s a grind of a season and maybe a few of the lads have their concentration not as good as what it should be,” he said.
“On a big occasion we are up for it as we’ve got some big game players in there like Challenge Cup winners and guys who have won promotion finals, so it never concerned me that we wouldn’t be up for the game.
“What we need to do is be more consistent week in week out so that we can return to stages like this and play in more big games. That will be the focus from here on out.”
Hornets have now leapfrogged Oldham into eighth place in the table after their win.