Report: Rochdale Hornets 14-32 Oldham

Rochdale Hornets ended their 2026 campaign with a hard-fought and determined contest against rivals Oldham in front of a huge crowd at the Crown Oil Arena.

During the week, it was announced that Centre Tom Ashton and Forward Jordan Andrade would be retiring from Rugby League after the derby clash, with both players receiving a guard of honour before the game.

It was the home side who struck first after just three minutes, Jack Hansen’s high kick caused issues for the Oldham defence, and Dan Nixon managed to pluck the ball out of the air for the game’s first try.

Jordan Paga thought he had doubled his side’s lead just after the 10-minute mark as he latched on to the end of a loose ball to slice through a gap in the Oldham defence, but he was denied by an offside call in the build-up.

The visitors drew level not long after with Jack Walker profiting from a mistake deep inside the Rochdale half to touch down, before ex-Rochdale man Ben O’Keefe missed the kick from wide out. 

Twelve minutes before the break, another former Hornet, Luke Forber, scrambled to score in the corner to put the Roughyeds in front for the first time.

Alan Kilshaw’s side started to take hold of the game, and just minutes later, Ben Davies was on the end of a high kick to add his name to the scoresheet before O’Keefe converted for the first time from in front of the sticks.

Oldham’s fourth try of the afternoon came off the back of nobody in a Rochdale shirt managing to deal with a loose ball which Forber pounced on to race away for a brace, with O’Keefe’s kick just about having enough to sneak over the crossbar.

Right on the stroke of half time, the visitors landed a hammer blow as Matty Ashurst crashed over from close range before O’Keefe took advantage to 22 points at the break.

After an error-strewn opening to the second half, the first major talking point of the half came when Josh Drinkwater caught Flanagan with a high shot, narrowly avoiding a card.

As tempers started to fray, Oldham’s Ted Chapelhow was shown a yellow card for a late hit, and almost straight away, the home side took advantage of their extra man as Jack Hansen managed to chase on to the end of a low kick with Flanagan adding the extras.

Hansen almost had his second ten minutes from time after Flanagan got his side to within 20m of the Oldham line but hesitated at the last moment and was halted by fullback Walker.

Despite a sustained period of pressure from Gary Thornton’s side, they couldn’t make their chances pay, and any lingering hopes of a comeback were finally extinguished five minutes from time as Uili Liu burst through the defence to score before O’Keefe converted.

There was to be a late consolation for the hosts, however, as Tj Boyd produced a spectacular length-of-the-field effort to reduce the deficit. Ashton looked to mark his final appearance with the conversion, but the ball landed short of the posts as the final hooter sounded.

As the 2026 season comes to a close, there will be plenty of positives for Gary Thornton’s side to take into the 2027 campaign with another big year ahead.

Rochdale Hornets: Flanagan, Nixon, Ashton, Sa’u, Boyd, Paga, Hansen, Ioane, Whitmore, Barratt, Unsworth, Wood, Syme

Subs: Dayes, Hatton, Waterworth, Hackney

Tries: Nixon Hansen, Boyd

Goals: Flanagan (1/2)

Oldham: Walker, Simm, O’Keefe, Nisbet, L. Forber, Davies, Drinkwater, Lannon, Wildie, Farnworth, Ashurst, Tane Bentley, Irwin

Subs: T. Forber, Chapelhow, High, Liu

Tries: Walker, Forber (2), Davies, Ashurst, Liu

Goals: O’Keefe (4/6)

Sin-bin: Chapelhow