Calland delighted with “the best half of rugby we’ve put together”

Hornets Head Coach, Matt Calland, was full of praise for his side following a phenomenal second half performance to claim bragging rights – in the local derby.

Rochdale had trailed 24-6, at half time, but ran in an unanswered eight tries – in the second half – to come away with a historic victory.

He said: “I’m absolutely delighted. At half time we were down and out, after a dreadful first half. But to score 50 points – and win the second half 44-0 – is absolutely fantastic.

“We were at 100% completion for virtually all of that second half; we didn’t make a mistake.”

What made the shock win even more impressive, was how Hornets overcame injuries to key personnel in their backline.

Calland said: “We lost Gregg McNally, who pulled his quad kicking a goal, then Hitchcox went off with a head injury. So, we had to shuffle things around and have people playing out of position - but they really dug in there for us.”

The former Halifax coach was keen to point out the need for a full 80-minute performance, from his players going forward, but also wanted to recognise the many outstanding displays which were crucial to the win.

“The key is we’ve now got to try and do that for 80 minutes, because obviously we gave ourselves a big hill to climb there.

“But, you’ve got to pay credit to the boys. I thought young Fenton Rogers was absolutely outstanding, he’s going to be a star of the future, and Kieran Rush was really composed to give us control at pivot.

“The more experienced boys stepped up brilliantly as well. Obviously Rangi getting himself a hat-trick; I thought he probably had his best game in a Rochdale jersey.

“Plus, Sean Penkywicz was brilliant coming off the bench. His game-management in those situations is first class, and he made some great breaks from dummy half to get us up the field.

“There were some unbelievable performances to swing things around, because we could’ve easily caved in there.”

While the first half performance will still be of concern to him, and Assistant Coach Gary Thornton, Calland understandably feels his side are in a very good place going into the business end of the season.

“I thought our discipline was poor again, in that first half. We also took a few wrong options but once we clicked into gear, in the second half, I think that’s the best half of rugby we’ve put together.

“So, I’d rather focus on the positives and carry that into the next game. I think the week off should do us good as well because of the injuries we’ve got.”

Calland, who won the Championship in his time at Halifax, says he is relishing the crucial end-of-season run-in that awaits Hornets.

“Going into the playoffs - five of our last seven games are at home so I’m looking for us to go on a real big push now.  

“I’m really excited about the back end of the season now, because I think our key players will stand up for us.”