Hornets edged out by Dons in season opener

Rochdale Hornets were beaten 20-10 in their League 1 opener by Doncaster at the Crown Oil Arena.

Despite tries from Ben O'Keefe and Cian Tyrer in either half, Hornets fell short as Doncaster crossed four times to continue their unbeaten start to the season. 

The visitors opened the scoring try after a neat exchange down the left created space for Connor Robinson to sprint clear, before he dummied his way past the last defender. Con missed. 0-4, 15 minutes.

Rochdale responded swiftly to open their account shortly after going behind, as Dan Brewin side-stepped his way through a gap before offloading to Jack Arnold, who took Hornets metres out.

Despite playing on the final tackle, Hornets worked the ball out to the right where O’Keefe was on hand to dive over for his second try in as many weeks. Con missed. 4-4, 20 minutes.

Doncaster, who are the favourites to be promoted this campaign, regained the lead when Elliot Hall burst free on the wing before diving over unchallenged. Con missed. 4-8, 28 minutes. 

Rochdale continued to hit the Dons pack hard, and a second try almost came before the break when Luke Forber broke the line and offloaded to Aiden Roden, but the visitors stood firm to maintain their advantage. 

Half time: Rochdale Hornets 4-8 Doncaster RLFC

Doncaster started brightly after the restart, and they added a third two minutes into the second half when Greg Burns touched down from close range after an offload fell into his hands. Con scored. 4-14, 42 minutes.

Hornets almost reduced the points difference immediately, however, despite conceding back-to-back penalties inside their 20m, the Dons defended strongly to keep Rochdale out.   

A response came before the hour when Tyrer intercepted a Doncaster wide pass, before running 60m to touch down unopposed with Dave Hewitt adding the extras. Con scored. 10-14, 55 minutes. 

The noise inside the Crown Oil Arena increased, and Rochdale almost levelled the contest when Tyrer accelerated away from multiple attempted tackles before offloading to Forber, who looked to burst through before tackled. 

Doncaster wrapped up the match in the final 10 minutes when Robinson's grubber kick bounced kindly into the hands of Jack Sanderson, who touched down. Con scored. 10-20, 71 minutes. 

Despite a late spell of pressure, Hornets were unable to add any further points onto the board as we fell to defeat in our opening League 1 match of the season.

Full time: Rochdale Hornets 10-20 Doncaster RLFC

Rochdale Hornets starting line-up: Joe Purcell, Cian Tyrer, Will Cooke, Ben O’Keefe, Dan Nixon, Lewis Else, Dave Hewitt, Zac Braham, Cameron Berry, Ben Killan, Duane Straugheir [C], Dan Brewin, Toby Brannan

Interchanges: Aiden Roden, Jack Arnold, Luke Forber, Ethan O’Hanlon, Ewan Badham [18th man]

Tries: O’Keefe, Tyrer

Goals: Hewitt (1)

Man of the Match: Cameron Berry