89 mins

Report: Rochdale Hornets Women 28-10 Stanningley

Rochdale Hornets Women picked up a valuable two points on Sunday afternoon in the Northern League 1, running out comprehensive 28-10 winners against Stanningley at the Crown Oil Arena.

The game formed the first part of a Sunday double-header and marked another step forward for the club, and another milestone for the women’s team.

After a scrappy start, it was the visitors who came closest to opening the scoring when Hephzi Leatherbarrow made a rush for the line but was kept at bay by some strong Hornets defence.

Then, the Hornets drew first blood just before the quarter-hour mark as Evie Bradbury crashed over underneath the sticks after a sustained period of pressure on the Stanningley line, with Sam Brazier adding the extras.

Ten minutes later and they were in again, this time through Lisa Berding who rampaged through the defence to score.

Ben Bird’s side started to take a grip on the game from there, and 12 minutes from the end of the first half, Hiske Blom added her name to the scoresheet as she broke through.

Stanningley found a route back into the game on the stroke of half-time as Freya Whitehead battled through a sea of Hornets bodies to find her way over the line, before Sophie Bickerdyke sneaked in the conversion.

The away side wasted no time at the start of the second half, and after being awarded back-to-back penalties, they cut the deficit to four points through Abbie Dove.

An eight-point gap was opened 15 minutes into the second half as Armani Khaliq bustled her way over in front the posts, before Brazier’s conversion attempt managed to bounce off the crossbar and away.

Still, the two points were secured 13 minutes from time as Claire Mullaney fired a perfect pass to captain Brazier, who finished the job before Fiona Kalf took the score to 24-10 from the tee.

Brazier had her second with five minutes left on the clock.

This proved to be the final meaningful action of the contest as the home side ran out 28-10 winners and added a new chapter to the history of the club with a historic win at the Crown Oil Arena.

Rochdale Hornets: Haythornwhite, Williams, Simmons, Wels, Turner, Berding, Blom, Khaliq, Collins, Barnes, Kalf, Bradbury, Brazier. Bench: Leigh-Moore, Mansell, Cocoran, Milne, Mullaney.

Tries: Bradbury, Berding, Blom, Khaliq, Brazier (2)

Goals: Brazier, Kalf

Stanningley: Hill, Leatherbarrow, Woods, Evans, Brown, Banks, Poole, Briggs, Whitehead, Dove, Davies, Heathcote, Taylor. Bench: Hill, Bickerdyke, Cheeseman, Henderson, Plummer, Pearce.

Tries: Whitehead, Dove

Goals: Bickerdyke