Hornets looking to secure safety against Sheffield

Rochdale Hornets

Rochdale Hornets will be hoping it is third time lucky when they take on Sheffield Eagles on Sunday, in the penultimate round of the Championship Shield.

They travel to Belle Vue, home of Super League club Wakefield Trinity, for their third meeting with the Eagles this season.

In the two previous clashes, they have been on the wrong end of heavy defeats.

The first time they met was in a Good Friday clash at The Crown Oil Arena, where Gary Lo inspired the visitors to victory with a hat-trick in a man-of-the-match display.

If they thought Lo was destructive in their first encounter, it was nothing compared to his performance in the return fixture. He touched down for five times as Sheffield picked up a 38-14 triumph to round off a double in this fixture.

Hornets pulled off an important win over local rivals Swinton Lions last Sunday.

It wasn’t their most impressive display in attack, although the resilience shown in defence was enough to grind down their opponents.

As it stands they are three points clear of the drop zone, and survival would be confirmed if they pick up a win over Sheffield, or if Swinton and Oldham’s fixture doesn’t end in a draw.

Hornets will be without a number of key players...

Ben Moores has been ruled out for the season by suspension.

Gary Middlehurst’s broken hand ended his season early.

Massam is unavailable for the remaining two games, and a second concussion in three weeks also drew a line under Smith’s 2017.

Ant Walker has been a revelation since joining the club late in the season, however he is also out for the season after sustaining a concussion of his own against Swinton.

Miles Greenwood and Lewis Palfrey are back in contention as the Hornets look to end the season strong.