'Work to do' for Dons ahead of Rochdale clash

Richard Horne’s side host Rochdale Hornets on Sunday following an opening day loss at Keighley Cougars in Betfred League One.

The Dons were level at 18-18 shortly after the re-start but a well-fancied Keighley side surged clear to win 44-18 at Cougar Park following Ben Johnston’s sin-binning and an injury to Watson Boas.

“We spoke about being high in our completion rates and tackle efficiency because we haven’t had a hit out before but we only completed at about 50 per cent for the full game,” said Horne.

“When you play a team like Keighley, who are among the favourites to win the competition this year, you just can’t do that.

“We defended well in the first half but had to do too much of it. There were a couple of soft tries on our line but that was just down to the fact we had to do so much defending on our line due to errors and turnover of the ball in places we didn’t want to lose it and they punished us.

“We will get better and will improve,” he added. “Seasons aren’t won and lost on day one, we’ll gear up for Rochdale and put right some things that we did wrong.

“We’ll have a really good look at the video and make sure we tidy up in the areas where we need to. It’s good to be back at it but we’ve got work to do.”

Rochdale beat West Wales Raiders 40-16 in their season opener, while there were also wins for Barrow, Workington and North Wales.