ROCHDALE HORNETS coach Gary Thornton was delighted to welcome back his halfback pairing of Max Flanagan and Lewis Else when Cornwall travelled to the Crown Oil Arena yesterday (Sunday, March 9).
The duo featured alongside each other in the 44-0 league win over Keighley in round one of the league, but then had to sit it out as Hornets went down 58-6 to Oldham in the 1895 Cup a week later.
While disappointed with that exit, Thornton knows having an almost fully-fit squad at his disposal – only halfback Martyn Ridyard is currently unavailable with an arm injury – is a big boost going into a tough run of fixtures.
“Thankfully none of the unavailabilities in the halves were long-term,” said Thornton.
“Max was poorly so we lost him on the morning of the Oldham game and Lewis got a really bad cut to the mouth against Keighley that needed stitches, but that’s all healed now.
“We have definitely got them back at the right time. You want to go into every game to win, but it was always going to be an uphill task at Oldham and we weren’t expecting too much from that game.
“We were probably a bit fortunate that we were without them for that cup game rather than the league, which has always been our main focus.
“We’ve got a couple of tough games coming up in Whitehaven (away) and Workington (home).”