ROCHDALE HORNETS 32 DEWSBURY RAMS 36
IAN RIGG Crown Oil Arena, Sunday

DEWSBURY took the spoils through a late try, but Rochdale gave a great send off to their retiring trio of players, with Martyn Ridyard and Gregg McNally pulling on the shirt for the last time and Duane Straugheir watching from the sidelines.

Referee Andy Sweet also officiated his last game, having had a long career.

The Rams took the lead after three minutes when Liam Copland broke up the left wing and two tackles later, Jackson Walker crashed in under the posts, taking two defenders with him. Jacob Hookem added the simple conversion.

They went further ahead when this time Copland did all the work himself, again breaking up the left to cut inside and touch down with Hookem again kicking the goal.

Hornets hit back on nine minutes when Lewis Else crossed on the left after Luke Nelmes went close, and Ridyard converted.

Another good chance fell to Rochdale, but Tom Ashton lost the ball in a good position.

Hookem added to Dewsbury’s tally on 17 minutes with a penalty-goal from 30 metres out.

Else almost scored a second try after good play near the Dewsbury line, and after 25 minutes, he did notch after a goal-line drop-out from which McNally put out a lovely short pass. Ridyard again added the two.

There was another assist for McNally just before the half-hour when he fed Luke Forber to go wide out and make it 16-14 to Rochdale.

Emerson Whittel was sent to the sin bin after 33 minutes for his part in a skirmish, and it got very scrappy in the final minutes of the first half, with Dylan Kelly-Duffy also yellow carded for running in.

Ridyard kicked a penalty-goal after an offside, and Rochdale were four points in front at the turn.

The second half started with Dewsbury on the attack after Rochdale knocked on in their own 30. From the scrum, amid pressure on the line, Hookem put out a nice short pass to Jamie Gill and he went through a big gap to score on the left, with Paul Sykes added the conversion for a 20-18 lead.

Dewsbury scored again on 48 minutes, when Craig McShane went over from close range, and Gill added his second try on 56 minutes, taking defenders with him. Sykes converted.

Rochdale responded just after the hour when Ashton crashed in and Ridyard converted from wide out.

The scores were level on sixty-six minutes when McNally rolled back the years to swallow dive over between the posts and Ridyard goaled, and Rochdale edged ahead with ten minutes left when Ridyard landed a penalty-goal after a ball steal.

But Dewsbury forced a drop-out six minutes from time and scored from it when Dan Coates found his way over and Sykes was good from the tee.

Rochdale threw everything at the Dewsbury defence in the final couple of minutes with Ben Forster going close, only to be grounded on his back just short of the line.

GAMESTAR: Greg McNally – Two try assists and a nice finish for his own.

GAMEBREAKER: Dan Coates try six minutes from time proved the winner.

MATCHFACTS
HORNETS
1 Gregg McNally
2 Dan Nixon
33 Darcy Simpson
20 Tom Ashton
5 Luke Forber
6 Martyn Ridyard
7 Lewis Else
10 Luke Nelmes
36 Ross Whitmore
17 Ben Killan
26 Ben Forster
18 Dylan Kelly-Duffy
13 Emmerson Whittel
Subs (all used)
23 Morgan Punchard
34 Elijah Simpson
25 Akim Matvejev
16 Jordan Andrade

Tries: Else (9, 25), Forber (29), Ashton (64), McNally (69)
Goals: Ridyard 6/7
Sin bin: Whittel (33) – dissent, Kelly-Duffy (39) – running in

RAMS
30 Craig McShane
25 Louie Walker
3 Caelum Jordan
4 George Senior
22 Liam Copland
6 Dan Coates
7 Jacob Hookem
37 Tenneson Neagle
31 Jack McShane
8 Jackson Walker
11 Joe Summers
15 Keenen Tomlinson
13 Dec Tomlinson
Subs (all used)
26 Paul Sykes
36 Jamie Gill
16 Louis Collinson
20 Harvey Roberts

Tries: J Walker (3), Copland (5), Gill (43, 56), C McShane (48), Coates (76)
Goals: Hookem 3/3, Sykes 3/4

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 6-12, 6-14, 12-14, 16-14, 18-14; 18-20, 18-24, 18-30, 24-30, 30-30, 32-30, 32-36

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hornets: Gregg McNally
Rams: Craig McShane

Penalty count: 10-5
Half-time: 18-14
Referee: Andy Sweet
Attendance: 1,024