Halifax pay penalty

Hornets drew first blood when Ashley Williams spilled Liam McGovern’s spiralling kick. Chris Clough drove for the line, slipped the ball to McGovern, who danced his way through to score. Paul Crook converted.

Hornets were now rampant, Craig Ashall, Craig Johnson and Mark Hobson all crossing for tries, Crook converting two.

Williams made amends for his earlier error as he shrugged off several tackles to score, before Paul Hughes added a second.

Doncaster were dominant and Kyle Kesik, Scott Spaven and Matt Carbutt added to Doncaster’s tally, Spaven converting two.

Two minutes before the break, Hughes popped the ball up for Matt Carbutt to dive over the line. Spaven slotted over his third conversion for a 26-22 interval lead.

Hornets hit back as Chris Hough pounced on a loose ball to touch down. The see-saw nature of the game continued when Scott Wilson collected Spaven’s chip, slipped the ball to Chris Spurr, who scored between the posts, Spaven adding the extras.

Hornets’ Damien Reid sent Johnson in at the corner, but Mick Butterfield exploited a huge hole in the home defence to score Doncaster’s eighth.

Hornets piled on the pressure in the closing stages, but desperate defence by Doncaster restricted them to just one try, McGovern sneaking over from close range for his second of the day.

Rochdale: Yates, Saywell, Pyke, Reid, Johnson, McGovern, Roper, Newton, Crook, Clough, Hobson, Ashall, Strong. Substitutes: Hayes, McDermott, Samuel, Hough.

Doncaster: Sanderson, Wilson, Steen, Spurr, Williams, Hughes, Spaven, Bovill, Ely, Scott, Carbutt, Robinson, Hughes. Substitutes: Kesik, Simpson, Crawley, Butterfield.

Referee: P Brooke (RFL).