Doncaster 22 Hornets 34Jim had this to say : Sometimes you play well, sometimes you play badly and sometimes you play with what you get. Hornets managed all three in varying quantities at Belle Vue on Sunday and, fortunately, had enough in the tank to overcome a tenacious Doncaster Dragons.
We all thought that Doncaster on their own midden would be a different proposition to some of the teams we've come up against recently - and we were right.
Doncaster stated their, intentions after only four minutes. Slack Hornets defence and poor concentration created enough space wide-out for Woodcock to exploit and score. But the lead was short-lived. Dragons' full back Colton coughed the kick-off, from the scrum Hornets worked the ball across the park and Marlon BIlly obliged in the corner. Woody converted and at 6-4, the Hornets contingent breathed easier. But Doncaster had other ideas. On 25 minutes - and on the back of some extensive pressure in the Hornets 20 - Matt Calland came out of the line looking for an interception, Garcia kicked the ball into the hole he left and Tony Fella pounced to score. Just three minutes later, Maea David sold an outrageous dummy 40 metres from the line and. with Hornets defenders standing off him, pinned his ears back to round Owen and score. With the conversion, Doncaster found themselves 14-6 to the good and well on top. Fortunately, where previous Hornets sides would buckle, this one dug deep to come back. On the half hour, Darren Robinson made a typical scoot from acting half and - with defenders parting before him - outpaced the cover to score from 40 metres. On the next foray into Doncaster territory, Latham Tawhai - who was roundly booed by Dons' suporters all afternoon - placed an impeccable grubber behind the Dragons' line and Wes Rogers, with defenders loitering with no intent, dived in to touch down. Against play and in defiance of logic, Hornets went in at the break 18-14 up.
Five minutes into the second half, Woodcock sloted a penalty to bring the Dons within two points, but Hornets pulled further away five minutes later - Danny Wood jinking and dummying through to score, then converting his own effort.
But still Hornets persisted in making hard work of it. Going forward they were simply dreadful - seven times dropping the ball before the third tackle, forcing passes, not respecting posession, placing themselves under needless pressure. Pressure that told on the hour as they allowed Carl Hall - who had an excellent game at out half - to spin out of some weak tackles close in and get the ball down. Coult's conversion brought Doncaster back to 22-24 and the home supporters sensed another Belle Vue upset.
Their expectations were dashed almost immediately. From a pinpoint short kick off, Andy Ireland gathered the ball. From the resulting possession, Hornets worked good field position for Brendan O'Meara to crash in. Woody converted. Doncaster visibly deflated. Despite attempting to move the ball around, they could no longer muster the energy to break down a Hornets defence that had spent most of the second half defending on the back of its own mistakes. As both sides put ball to ground - and the clock ticked down - Hornets managed to hang onto the ball long enough to find Matt Calland out on the right. He went crashing through a tiring Dons' defence from 20 metres to score.
So Hornets winning run continues and, whilst error-ridden and decidedly patchy, this win secures fourth place. Again, it was an unconvincing performance, but if you think that we can play at 60% and still win at Doncaster, we can't be all that bad. Wrong. Martin Hall will, again, be livid. Our respect for possession was unforgiveably poor, passing from acting half back even worse. Hornets placed themselves under pressure time and time again and, on a day when straightforward and simple would have been more than adequate, we persisted in making it hard.
Hornets did twice the tackling they needed too yesterday and it's testimony to their fitness that they didn't tire. But good teams punish poor mistakes - and to their credit, Doncaster did on a couple of occasions. In a very ordinary performance, there were some notable contributions. Andy Ireland drove the ball in relentlessly all afternoon, ably supported by Matt Knowles. Latham Tawhai teased and tormented with some astute kicking. Danny Wood showed flickers of what he's really capable of - if only he had a scintilla more belief in his ability and had the confidence to take players on. Steve Gartland played his usual tidy, direct, unfussy game which held us together for long periods. But our man of the match goes to Brendan O'Meara - again a colossal performance on attack and, particularly on defence. Big Bren's added a touch of genuine class to this Hornets side and his performances have set the standard for the season.
And so we go to Batley next week for the closing league game. Hornets have had an amazing season - exceeding everyone's expectations. Twenty wins already - twice as many as last season - have seen us secure fourth place and, at times, we've had to pinch ourselves to believe that this is really us.
A tight, focused performance next week would be a great way to top a great season. Hally probably thinks so too.
The press had this to say : Doncaster Dragons produced a brave performance against Rochdale before eventually slipping to a 34-22 defeat.
First-half tries from Johnny Woodcock and Tony Fella put the home side in control but Rochdale hit back with tries from Malcolm Billy (another new signing?), Daren Robinson and Wes Rogers to take an 18-14 interval lead.
Hornets piled on the pressure in the second half with Brendan O'Meara and Danny Wood, who also kicked five goals, touching down.
Tries from Maea David and Carl Hall gave the Dragons hope but Matt Calland touched down four minutes from time to secure the win.