Hornets back to earth with bump

Rochdale Hornets

- 

ROCHDALE Hornets fell to a 22-10 defeat at home to high-flyers Midlands Hurricanes in Betfred League 1.

Mark Dunning’s side controlled large parts of the contest to put an end to the Hornets’ three-game winning run.

With blue skies over the Crown Oil Arena and no wind, the conditions were perfect for rugby league and after an attritional start, the opening exchanges were end-to-end with neither side mounting a real attack in the first few minutes.

It was Midlands who scored first after just seven minutes as Elliott Morris darted under a line of Hornets bodies to touch down from close range to land the first blow of the contest.

With just over 15 minutes gone, the Hornets found space down the left-hand side as Max Flanagan opened up a gap in the Hurricanes defence before passing the ball inside to Lewis Else, who dived over to put Gary Thornton’s side on the scoreboard.

Midlands went close again midway through the first half.