Law cup next up for Hornets

Alan Kilshaw, head coach of Rochdale Hornets

Rochdale Hornets and Oldham are set to lock horns on Sunday at the second time of asking, as the Law Cup is back up for grabs at Spotland.

The visitors are the holders of the trophy which the Hornets will be hoping to win back 25 seasons on from their Boxing Day win in front of a record crowd of 8,150.

The return of the prestigious pre-season fixture was scheduled for Sunday 17 February, however heavy snowfall forced the game to be postponed and rescheduled for this weekend.

Oldham picked up a win in their previous game with a 22-0 victory away to League One side Barrow Raiders, but were also beaten by Keighley Cougars 16-8 two weeks previous.

Since the postponement Hornets have gained two valuable outings against Super League outfit Salford Red Devils and newly promoted Championship side Swinton Lions.

In their most recent fixture they recorded a 30-24 victory over the Lions at Sedgley Park, and although coach Alan Kilshaw played down the importance of the result in the build up to the Salford game he was pleased to get the win over Swinton.

“We have improved since the Salford game,” he commented.

“Swinton are a very good attacking team and I thought we defended really well. I’m a bit disappointed they got a try at the end but we are improving, we have a good baseline and we’re only going to get better the more we play together.

“We are pleased we won because we have been doing a lot of new things and it justifies what we are doing. It’s good confidence for the new lads and the senior players who have been here a few seasons.

“We have beaten a Championship club and a side who were outstanding last year so we should take a lot of confidence from that.”

Kilshaw dedicated the win to Warren Thompson and his wife after the birth of their daughter Bella.

He was impressed with the way his players reacted to his half-time team talk of upping the aggression.

“I thought we were a little soft first-half,” said Kilshaw. “I thought they really started aggressive and they give it to us, I wouldn’t say we took a backwards step but we didn’t match their aggression.

“Saying that we started well and went 12-0 up and probably took our foot off the gas a little bit, and gifted back to back penalties and drop-outs and their tries came off the back of that.

“Second half we came out and responded well to what we spoke about at half-time and we scored some really good tries considering the track. Anywhere is going to be like that in January so that is no disrespect to Sedgley Park, but you know you’ve got to change your game when you’re playing on a real heavy pitch like that and we did do.”

Hornets played some expansive rugby league despite the poor conditions which pleased Kilshaw, however he felt that his players could have been smarter and will be hoping they can improve again this week.

“We played some good stuff and we tried some things but we’ve probably got to be a bit smarter game management wise.

“Yeah, we want to do kicks from scrums and stuff like but if we haven’t touched the ball for a while it is probably best not to try that kick or offload.

“We do that a lot in training and we want to play an expansive style of rugby. I thought some of the stuff we played was really pleasing on the eye.”

After seeing most of his squad in action Kilshaw will be looking to field a strong team and he has been impressed with the players who have pulled on the Hornets shirt in the past two games.

It leaves him with a selection headache ahead of the derby clash with fierce rivals, Oldham, as Hornets look to gain revenge for their double defeat last season and claim the Law Cup for 2016.