Rochdale Hornets 16 - 44 Salford

Rochdale Hornets

Rochdale Hornets held their own against Super League outfit Salford Red Devils until late in the game, as Alan Kilshaw’s new look side began their pre-season schedule at Spotland.

The divide of two division wasn’t apparent in the opening exchanges and it took the introduction of former NRL star Robert Lui to get Salford off the mark.

Hornets showed their defensive mettle to stay in the game for over an hour, before Salford pulled away towards the end of the match.

Kilshaw fielded nine debutants and it was trialist Chris Riley who opened the scoring 11 minutes in; the former Super League winger scooped up Ben Moores’ pass to stroll over in the corner. Paul Crook successful with his touchline conversion.

Rochdale-born centre Dave Cookson also marked his debut with a try, charging onto Crook’s flat pass for a converted effort.

With Hornets giving penalties the way of Salford the momentum began to shift, and with one of his first touches Lui sliced through the Hornets defence on the half-hour mark. Michael Dobson cut the deficit to six with the conversion.

Salford levelled the score when Matt Sarsfield juggled Logan Tomkins’ pass over the try line and managed to re-gather before knocking on. Dobson made no mistake with his two-pointer.

It looked like the scores would be tied at the break until Carl Forster, a familiar face at Spotland, crashed over with the last play of the half.

Hornets flew out of the block at the start of the second half and threatened the Salford line with a number of attacks, which were all repelled by the defence.

Salford gained the upper-hand and Justin Carney made Rochdale pay as he beat Riley in the air to touch down.

Salford extended their lead when Gareth O’Brien’s cross-field kick was pounced on by Niall Evalds, as the aerial bombardment continued.

Hornets didn’t give in and were back in the game when Dave Cookson chased down Danny Yates’ grubber for his second try.

Salford introduced fresh legs towards the end of the game and capitalised on the tiring 19 man Hornets side, as they registered 18 points in the final 11 minutes.

Rochdale Hornets: Wayne English, Chris Riley, Dave Cookson, Lewis Galbraith, Dale Bloomfield, Paul Crook, Danny Yates, Samir Tahraoui, Ben Moores, Matty Hadden, Jordan Case, James Dandy, James Tilley Subs: Harry Files, John Cookson, Alex Trumper, Jack Francis, Stuart Biscomb, Corey Lee
Tries: Riley (11), D. Cookson (21, 62)
Goals: Crook 2/3

Salford Red Devils: Niall Evalds, Justin Carney, Josh Griffin, Junior Sa’u, Jake Bibby, Gaz O’Brien, Michael Dobson, Craig Kopczak, Tommy Lee (c), Adam Walne, Matt Sarsfield, Mark Flanagan, Olsi Krasniqi Subs: Rob Lui, Logan Tomkins, Matty Gee, Carl Forster, Liam Bent, Matt Wilkinson, Josh Wood, Adam Jones
Tries: Lui (30), Sarsfield (36), Forster (40), Carney (54), Evalds (58), Sa’u (69), Krasniqi (73), Griffin (79)
Goals: Dobson 4/5, Griffin 3/3

Referee: Chris Campbell

Attendance: 1,325