Rochdale Hornets 28 - 28 Toulouse Olympique

Photo: Jackie Meredith

Jono Smith scoring vs Toulouse

Rochdale Hornets responded to their heavy defeat at the hands of Widnes Vikings last week with a brilliant performance, which saw a late Paul Crook penalty rescue a point against Toulouse Olympique.

It looked like Toulouse were going to continue their rampant start to the season after ten minutes, as they stormed into a 16-0 lead.

Hornets produced a brilliant fight-back to post 24 points before Toulouse replied, and were unlucky not to come away with all two points.

It was a heated affair, as the players almost came to blows on a number of occasions, and Bastien Ader was placed on report in the second half for a biting incident, which left Lewis Galbraith with visible injuries.

Hornets' middle unit was outstanding, with aggressive and dominant displays throughout the pack, led by Samir Tahraoui who was a constant threat with and without the ball.

Danny Yates was impressive in the halves, capping a memorable performance with a try, and Galbraith made a solid return from a lengthy injury.

Tom Lineham made his debut for the club, scoring a quick-fire double to claw the Hornets back into the game.

It was a disastrous start for Hornets as Toulouse opened the scoring after just two minutes, with a last-tackle penalty leading to Jonathan Ford sending Rhys Curran over.

Kuni Minga scored soon after with a great solo effort, breaking from deep in his own half to show the chasing defence a clean pair of heels and touch down under the sticks.

The 10 minute blitz was complete when Ford and Mark Kheirallah combined to lay on a try for Andrew Bentley.

It took 18 minutes for Hornets to register their first points of the afternoon, with the ever-impressive James Tilley ducking under a tackle to score after Yates had intercepted a wild pass from Curran.

On the half hour Mark Lineham was in for his first, as Michael Ratu collected Crook’s floated cut-out ball, drew the defender and sent the wide man over in the corner.

Five minutes later he was in again, as he out-jumped his opposite man Minga to collect Crook’s pinpoint kick and score.

Right on the hooter Rochdale were awarded a penalty, and Crook kept his cool to level the score.

Hornets carried their momentum into the second half and after sustained pressure on the Toulouse line Jono Smith showed great strength to force his way over from dummy half.

Seven minutes later Yates produced a brilliant piece of play, as he looked to find Tahraoui with a short ball at the line, but instead dummied and darted over to give Hornets a 10 point cushion.

The momentum then swung the opposite way, and after back-to-back penalties Gregory White charged over to cut the deficit on the hour mark.

It looked like Ader had won it for the French side when he touched down off the back of another last-tackle penalty with just six minutes left on the clock, giving Toulouse a two point lead.

That was until Crook stepped up and kept his nerve to knock over another penalty goal two minutes from time, after Hornets had regathered possession from the restart.

That set up a tense and frantic finish, however it would be the final score of the game as the two sides shared the points in a dramatic 28-all draw.

Rochdale Hornets
Wayne English, Tom Lineham, Michael Ratu, Lewis Galbraith, Chris Riley, Paul Crook, Danny Yates, Samir Tahraoui, Ben Moores, Warren Thompson, Jono Smith, Jordan Case, James Tilley Subs: Alex McClurg, Matty Hadden, Joe Philbin, Jo Taira
Tries: Tilley (18), Lineham (30,35), Smith (47), Yates (54)
Goals: Crook 4/7

Toulouse Olympique XIII
Mark Kheirallah, Tony Maurel, Bastien Ader, Gregory White, Kuni Minga, Jonathan Ford, Arthur Gonzalez-Trique, Clement Boyer, Kane Bentley, Bastien Canet, Sebastien Planas, Rhys Curran, Andrew Bentley Subs: Mourad Kriouache, Danny Hulme, Tyla Hepi, Samy Masselot
Tries: Curran (2), Minga (7), A. Bentley (10), White (60), Ader (74)
Goals: Kheirallah 4/5

Rochdale Hornets Man of the Match: Samir Tahraoui
Attendance: 536
Referee: T. Grant