Rochdale Hornets 22 – 28 Midlands Hurricanes Betfred Championship Round Seven
By Tom Kiernan-Wilson
The Canes secured a fourth Betfred Championship win on Sunday after a gritty and resilient performance against a determined Hornets outfit.
Midlands stated strong in the opening minutes, which paid dividends as a Sully Medforth bomb on the last tackle of our second set saw Aidan McGowan contest the catch, juggle the loose ball and plonk it down under some serious pressure (0-4). Sully added the extras from out wide with the conversion (0-6).
The Canes were unable to make that momentum count, as McGowan would go on to spill the kick restart and gift Rochdale a scrum that would be followed by a penalty. Unsurprisingly, the home side took advantage with prolific winger Dan Nixon put in space to score down the right edge (4-6). The conversion attempt was missed.
Momentum would swing back to Midlands five minutes later as Luis Roberts would intercept a telegraphed pass 30 metres from the hosts line, which would allow Matty Chrimes to muscle his way over despite the best efforts of the Rochdale defence (4-10). Once again, Sully added the extras (4-12).
Midlands could have added to that lead five minutes later after forcing the Hornets to concede a goal-line drop out, but a forward pass to Chrimes killed any momentum. The visitors were made to rue that mistake as Rochdale would get their second try as a penalty and some easy metres saw hooker Ross Whitmore squeeze under the posts from close range (8-12). Max Flanagan would convert (10-12).
Ten minutes would pass before the next try, with Lewis Else – a target for any player in a Hornets jersey – making a great break to bring us within 10 metres of the hosts line before eventually feeding Toby Warren to crash over for his fifth try in Canes colours (10-16). Sully would go three from three with the boot (10-18).
The Canes would keep the momentum going in the final ten, with Lewis Else forcing another goal-line drop out before Sully Medforth earned a penalty for a late shot. Calling for the kicking tee straight away, Medforth would nail the penalty for his fourth conversion of the afternoon just before half-time (10-20).
The second half would start shaky for Midlands, with the kick restart fumbled and leading to a goal-line drop out. The Canes would bounce back and defend valiantly, but it was clear the hosts had their tails up and were still in the contest.
After a frustrating number of six again calls, the referee would eventually sin-bin Oliver Roberts for ruck interference. More six again calls would follow, leading to a staggering 18 sets to 2 at one stage, but it would only be seconds before Roberts was due to return that Dan Nixon would eventually find himself with an opportunity to score an acrobatic effort in the corner (14-20). Max Flanagan nailed an impressive conversion from out wide, despite the best efforts of the Canes faithful to distract him (16-20).
With just over five minutes to go, the Canes would earn a penalty 20 metres out and Sully Medforth did not hesitate to call for the kicking tee to nudge us into a two-score lead (16-22). He would follow that up with a sublime chip on the last tackle of the following set, which would be gathered by Aidan McGowan to canter past his opposite number and put the game beyond doubt (16-26), with Sully maintaining a 100% kicking record (16-28).
The hosts would have the last word of the afternoon however, as an impressive kick on the hooter from Dan Nixon was not dealt with by the Canes defence and eventually found TJ Boyd who wriggled over for a consolation (20-28) that was converted by Flanagan (22-28).
Mark Dunning’s men now travel to Cougar Park next Sunday in search of some revenge, after last month’s heartbreaking last-minute defeat to Keighley in the Challenge Cup.
Man of the Match: Aiden Roden (sponsored by Enjoy Travel Group)
Tries: McGowan (2), Chrimes and Warren
Cons: Medforth (4/4)
Pens: Medforth (2/2)
Attendance: 362
