WATERHEAD WARRIORS 6 ROCHDALE HORNETS 60
CHARLIE BOYER, Manor Park, Oldham, Sunday

A PACKED house at Waterhead’s home from home saw Rochdale advance to the next round of the Challenge Cup with a comprehensive victory. 

It was the Championship side who drew first blood as Dan Nixon finished off a passing move in the corner.

They were in again moments later thanks to Tom Ashton, who powered through a gap in the Waterhead defence to extend his side’s lead.

Max Flanagan added the extras and the Hornets were in to double figures in the opening ten minutes.

Just before the quarter hour mark, Rochdale were put under pressure for the first time with the home side forcing the defence back to their own line, before being awarded a repeat set. From that set, TJ Boyd couldn’t deal with a grubber kick and Vincent Arthurs did well to pin the winger back and force a drop-out.

The home team’s defence stood strong as they restricted Rochdale to their own half before winning a penalty, before defence soon turned in to attack as Niall Dean managed to plant the ball down amongst a sea of Hornets bodies just before the midway point of the half.

Arthurs added the extras and suddenly we had a cup tie on our hands with the deficit at just four points.

Soon after, Hornets half-back Jamie Dallimore floated a dangerous kick to the corner where Nixon was waiting but he was thwarted as Arthurs put his body on the line to prevent a score.

The pressure from the away side did eventually pay off as Ben Metcalfe sliced through the defence moments later to score.

Straight from the restart, they were in again thanks to a superb team try.

A quick offload following a break from Boyd found Ethan Wood who set Flanagan free to leave the scrambling defence behind to finish the job. The full-back converted his own try from in front of the posts to open up a 16 point gap.

Three minutes before the break, Gareth Owen was shown a yellow card following a high tackle.

On the stroke of half-time, Dylan Kelly-Duffy found a gap in the Waterhead defence to add his name to the scoresheet.

The visitors started the second half in the same way they ended the first as Jordan Andrade muscled over from close range.

Dan Lloyd then got in on the act as he cut through, before Ashton crashed his way over for his second try. 

Nixon then produced a typical flying finish to double his tally for the afternoon. Flanagan produced an outstanding conversion from the sideline as the gap widened to 40 points.

A ball over the top of the defence from Dallimore found Boyd who touched down in the corner as his side hit the 50 point mark.

Boyd grabbed his second two minutes from time after latching on to the end of another Dallimore kick.

The visit of Challenge Cup kings Wigan Warriors awaits as the Hornets advance to round three with relative ease.

GAMESTAR: Rochdale halfback Jamie Dallimore controlled the game and set up some impressive tries.

GAMEBREAKER: Max Flanagan’s try just after the half-hour mark gave the Hornets a 16-point lead which only widened from that point and set them on the road to round three.

MATCHFACTS

WARRIORS
1 Harrison Dodd
5 Vincent Arthurs
3 Adam Robinson
4 Matthew Holland
2 Max Hobin
6 Gareth Owen
18 Matthew Fletcher
8 Harry Barker
9 Liam Aspin
10 Callum Cameron
11 William Dixon
12 Mitchell Birch
13 Scott Parnaby
Subs (all used)
14 Buckley Kershaw
16 Keenan Fraser
17 Luke Barbour
15 Niall Dean

Tries: Dean (18)
Goals: Hobin 1/1

HORNETS
1 Max Flanagan
22 TJ Boyd
3 Tom Ashton
4 Junior Sa’u
5 Dan Nixon
6 Jamie Dallimore
20 Joe Hickey
8 Jaden Dayes
9 Ross Whitmore
17 Dylan Kelly-Duffy
12 Ethan Wood
24 Ben Metcalfe
13 Jordan Syme
Subs (all used)
10 Lewis Hatton
16 Jordan Andrade
18 Dan Lynch
19 Luke Waterworth
18th man (used)
33 Dan Lloyd

Tries: Nixon (7, 55), Ashton (9, 51), Metcalfe (30), Flanagan (33), Kelly-Duffy (40), Andrade (47), Boyd (61, 78), Lloyd (65)
Goals: Flanagan 8/11

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-10, 6-10, 6-16, 6-22, 6-28; 6-34, 6-40, 6-44, 6-50, 6-56, 6-60

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Warriors: Vincent Arthurs; Hornets: Jamie Dallimore

Penalty count: 8-11
Half-time: 6-28
Referee: Kevin Moore