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London Skolars 4 Rochdale Hornets 54

26/ 3/2008

HORNETS enjoyed an emphatic win down in the capital on Monday to record their first victory in National League Two.

They coped well with the difficult conditions underfoot and totally dominated the first half.

Hornets got off to a good start with Chris Forster instrumental in the first two tries.

Two minutes into the game his short pass out right found Wayne Corcoran racing into the attacking line and splitting the defence.

Then, a cut-out pass to the wing found Alex Brown who used his power to race to the corner.

Corcoran left the field soon afterwards with a wrist injury and the Spotland outfit will be hoping it is not a serious one.

Skolars regularly incurred the ire of the referee and Hornets took full advantage when Jimmy Elston’s pass to Ian Sinfield saw the second rower stroll to the line unopposed.

However, for most of the first half, it was hard graft that gave Rochdale their dominance in possession. Brown regularly made good yardage, taking the ball up early in the tackle count, but it was the forwards, notably John Cookson and Craig Robinson who regularly made big dents in the defence.

With Elston keeping the momentum going in every attack, it was one way traffic as his break from halfway set up Martin Ainscough for his first try. Brown scored his second soon afterwards, swerving and dummying to beat the defence down the right flank.

Hornets’ handling was also good, only conceding their first scrum after 39 minutes. The hapless Skolars lost the ball on the first set, Ainscough intercepting from 40 metres out. Hornets still had time for a final score before half time, Forster kicking a long-range penalty for his sixth goal of the half, ending with nine goals from 10 attempts, impressing on a day where kicking was far from easy.

Skolars finally managed to cross the tryline soon after the restart, Dene Miller racing onto a cross-field kick.

But Hornets soon dominated again. When a short-range grubber kick hit the posts it was prop David Newton who was alert enough to get to the ball and ground it.

Skolars lost Jamie Nowland to the sin-bin for dissent following the try, and that helped the Londoners raise their game, keeping Hornets out for almost 20 minutes.

Hornets re-asserted themselves. Forster’s pass to Andy Marsh saw him cross from close range and when John Cookson got the ball on the right, 10 metres out, the defence was not going to stop him.

Hornets boss Bobbie Goulding wasn’t completely satisfied with his charges efforts.

"I’m really happy with the first half, but not with the second half.

"We’re not good enough to step off the gas.

"It was a very scrappy second half. We can’t seem to play for a full 80 minutes and that’s one thing the guys are going to have to learn."

Match stats

London Skolars: Jordan Macey; Callan Sipthorp; Namila Davui;