Hornets 36 Batley 10 : Batley site match reportJim had this to say
Hornets bite toothless Bulldogs
So the Hornets steamroller goes stuttering on. 36-10 is a comfortable enough victory over this pugnacious Batley side, but whilst professional in our execution, we still failed to find the fluidity we've displayed at other times this season.
OK, if Danny Wood had had a better afternoon with the boot, we'd have sailed past the 40 mark with ease. And yes, Batley were workmanlike, combative and durable. And yes, some of the many positional changes which inevitably take their toll on our shape and rhythm were enforced. But in a game where we scored 8 tries, it says much that game will be remembered for two quite exquisite tackles.
The first came after half an hour. With Hornets cruising with tries from Wood (skating through defenders) and O'Meara (arriving like a bullet on the end of a slide-rule short pass from Sculthorpe), Tawhai punted a downtown deep into the Bulldogs' in-goal. Fullback Gibson gathered the ball, but had failed to notice Big Bren O'Meara's amazing 40 metre chase. As he turned, Bren quite simply hammered him into the ground behind his own line. Quality. From the resulting drop-put, Woody' neat footwork made space for Calland to crash over on the right.
Almost on the hooter, Tawhai hoisted a bomb towards the Batley posts, Calland came up with the ball and James Bunyan almost fell over himself in surprise as he took a tidy pass in acres of space to score. At 20-0 Hornets went in comfortably ahead, Batley had been most disappointing.
A reshaped Hornets took the field for the second stanza. Scully had departed with what looked like a hamstring pull, Steve Gartland went in at loose forward, Dave Watson dropped back to full back and Paul Owen moved up to six. Still with us? Good, let's continue.
The second half was only four minutes old before Hornets put Batley out of their misery.
Tawhai again lofting a chip into the corner, McHugh beating the covering defenders to touch down. But Batley came battling back with a converted try from Harrison and a dubious effort from Sheldon Davis who looked to have hit the corner flag, failed to have grounded the ball and made a double movement. The two were bisected by another McHugh try following neat approach play from Tawhai and Owen.
After 69 minutes, Sean Cooper marked another solid performance with a try out wide from a James Bunyan pass and Woody completed the scoring after 78 minutes when he scrambled and rolled over the line with two defenders in attendance to touch down.
But the moment of the match was yet to come. In the dying seconds, makeshift Batley winger Gary Shillabeer broke upfield, pulling away from the cover and looking likely to score. He was tracked over 40 metres by Dave Watson who edged him closer and closer to the corner flag.
Watson's strike was impeccable. Just as Shillabeer was about to launch himself for the corner, Watson dived in low and scythed him off at the knees sending winger one way and ball the other. It was, quite simply, the most perfectly timed and executed tackle. It brought the main stand to its feet - somethng not seen since David Lockwood put Paul Ringer on his arse in about 1981.
It's fitting that the game's two defining monments were delivered by the joint winners of our Man of the Match. On an afternoon when 'ordinary' was more than sufficient' to succeed, Brendan O'Meara and Dave Watson turned in quite extraordinary performances. O'Meara's been consistently good this term - tough and uncompromising, I'm glad that the team has blossomed to provide a fitting vehicle for his ability. As for Watto, his performance against Batley was nothing short of brilliant. His non-stop running and willingness to take the ball in again and again were inspirational.
Batley on the other hand resorted to the spoiling tactics that teams feel they have to resort to when they visit Spotland. They lay all over the tackle for 80 minutes and were allowed to do so by a referee who made some decidedly questionable 'technical' decisions.
Scully's leg injury could prove very costly if he's added to the casualty list alongside Dave Larder now in enforced absence with a broken wrist and Marlon Billy still sidelined with his leg injury. With an awkward run-in we need to be at our very best.
Once again, Martin Hall will be disappointed to have conceded 10 points because, for all their effort, Batley didn't contribute 10 points worth of entertainment to this game. Their fans must be praying for the end of the season - even if it does end with another outing against us.
The press had this to say
Super League contenders Rochdale Hornets destroyed a toothless Batley Bulldogs outfit with an eight-try romp, running out 36-10 winners at Spotland Stadium.
But Rochdale managed to convert only two of their tries, saving the Yorkshire club from a real thrashing.
Hornets opened the scoring in the ninth minute as Warren Ayres set up Danny Wood who dived in from close range.
Three minutes later a dominant Hornets extended their lead when a superbly timed pass from Danny Sculthorpe found Brendon O'Meara who ran clear to score. Wood added the extras.
Batley were now struggling to contain a rampant Hornets as Matt Calland (27), and James Bunyan (38) broke the visitors ranks and resolve with four-pointers.
The home side rubbed salt into the Bulldogs' wounds early in the second half as Wayne McHugh (43) pounced on a Latham Tawhai kick to score.
Batley notched their first try when a rare period of pressure was rewarded with Paul Harrison (49) crashing over. McHugh (53) added his second and Shelton Davis responded for the visitors.
This prompted Hornets to raise their game and they stretched their lead through Sean Cooper (68) and Wood (73).