Injury-hit Hornets fall below par in Cumbria
WORKINGTON TOWN.. 32 ROCHDALE HORNETS . 22
HORNETS trip to Cumbria ended with a defeat against Workington Town at a wind-swept Derwent Park Stadium.
Hornets head coach Gary Thornton handed club debuts to loanees Kai Morgan and Lloyd Roby who joined the club during the week from Salford Red Devils and Widnes Vikings as the Hornets hit the road again.
Matty Rudd was also recalled at hooker from the side which lost out to Oldham last week.
Workington struck first in the opening minute of the tie; Max Flanagan’s kick-off was caught in the swirling wind which gave Workington a chance to attack. The ball was worked wide to the left where Jordan Burns received an offload to crash over. Ciaran Walker added the extras. 6-0 to Workington.
Workington added to their lead in the tenth minute. Full-back Jordan Burns, cutting an influential figure for Workington, broke through the line and found Jake Bradley in support to dive over and score. The conversion was missed by Walker. 10-0 Workington.
Workington struck again in the 15th minute. Jarrod Sammut fired a long, looping pass over to Jonny Hutton who gleefully added another four points to Workington’s score. Walker added the two to make it 16-0 to Workington after a slow Hornets start.
As Rochdale struggled against the conditions looking for some momentum, the start to the game became worse as an already injury-plagued side added one more to the treatment table as centre Myles Harrop limped off with an apparent groin problem.
Workington crossed again in the 22nd minute, Flanagan couldn’t deal with a high bomb from Sammut in the swirling wind which gave the hosts a scrum, from which the
ball was worked out wide to the right for Brad Taylor to score. Walker added the extras from the touchline. 22-0.
As the clock struck the 27th minute, Rochdale got on the scoreboard. Good play down the right from Hartley and Straugheir
eventually saw our captain offload to Tommy Brierley who dove over in the corner. Flanagan missed the conversion which was made tricky by the wind. 22-4 to the hosts.
Workington looked to have increased their score in the 35th minute as Sammut dropped a lovely grubber in behind the Hornets line but fumbled as he tried to get on the end of his own kick under some good goal-line pressure from the Hornets.
Right on the hooter for half-time, Workington had to chance to increase their lead by two points after being awarded a penalty by our match referee. Ciaran Walker couldn’t get his kick right which meant Workington went into the sheds with a commanding 22-4 lead which left Rochdale Hornets with lots of work to do in the second forty.
Five minutes into the second half Hornets struck again. Good work and speed in the ruck from Openshaw saw the ball worked out wide to Joe Hartley who cut inside and crossed. Flanagan superbly added the extras from right on the touchline. 22-10, Hornets in with a fighting chance.
Workington crossed again in the 49th minute. After defending a full set of six on their own line, the Hornets concede a set restart which leads to Matty Henson taking full advantage, diving over from dummy-half to score. The conversion by Walker was successful in making the score 28-10 to Workington.
The Workington faithful thought their side had got another one in the 58th minute, it looked as though Tyler Walton had dived over from dummy half, but he was called as held up mere inches from the line.
Hornets kept pushing for a way back into the game but a combination of loose errors within the pack and the adverse weather conditions meant that Gary Thornton’s side was struggling to gain a foothold in a game that up to the hour mark Workington had controlled.
In the 66th minute, Widnes loanee Lloyd Roby was sent to the sin bin for a poor tackle and involvement in the result
ant melee giving Hornets a huge uphill task to try to get anything out of the game.
As the clock hit seventy Workington made sure of the game. A looping kick from the wind was held up in the wind and totally caught out Dan Nixon who was unsure whether to stick or twist which saw the ball fall into the grateful
hands of Jonny Hutton who grabbed his second and made the game safe for Workington. Walker misses the extras. 32-10.
With three minutes left on the clock, the Hornets grabbed their first of two consolation tries to add a bit of respect to the scoreline. Jordan Andrade was fed the ball off the back of a penalty before lining up
one of his trademark runs and powering over with Flanagan adding the extras.
Right on the full-time hooter, Hornets crossed again, a great pass over the top of the onrushing Workington right edge from Kai Morgan found Connor Ratcliffe, who was deployed at centre throughout the second half, to crash over. Flanagan again added the extras in the wind to make the full-time score 32-22.
A disappointing afternoon for the injuryplagued Hornets, who didn’t help themselves in windy conditions with a plethora of errors resulting in a below-par performance from Gary Thornton’s men. The Hornets will have their eyes set on getting back to winning ways next Sunday the 14th of April as they take on Newcastle Thunder at the Crown Oil Arena in a 3pm kick-off.
ROCHDALE HORNETS: Flanagan, Brierley, Hartley, Harrop, Nixon, Roby, Morgan, Brannan, Rudd, Nelmes,
Forster, Ratcliffe, Straugheir. Interchanges: Openshaw, Whittel, Andrade, Brennan
TRIES: Brierley, Hartley, Andrade, Ratcliffe
GOALS: Flanagan (3/4)