Lock Lane's memorable Betfred Challenge Cup run ends against Rochdale Hornets
Lock Lane's Betfred Challenge Cup adventure ended with third round defeat to Rochdale Hornets, but they could leave the field with their heads held high after another great effort against professional opponents.
The Castleford side could not quite match the heroics from their win over Oldham in the previous round, but stayed in the contest for a long time before an eventual 28-12 defeat.
In front of a big crowd at their Hicksons Arena venue the players left everything out on the muddy pitch as they made their League One opponents battle for their expected win.
The game was fiercely contested and saw three yellow cards and one red dished out, with Ben Mawson sent off for Lane.
Rochdale took an early lead with Ben Killan's fourth minute try converted by Lewis Sheridan and more pressure brought them a quick follow-up try, Ryan Forshaw crossing.
Sheridan's second goal made it 12-0 and Lock Lane already had a huge task on their hands.
They quickly showed their ability, however, as Craig Duncan touched down in the corner from Nathan Fozzard's astute kick and with Fozzard adding a superb touchline conversion they were back to being just six points down.
The home side then came close to levelling when Chris Siddons was unable to ground the ball under pressure when crossing Rochdale’s try-line, before they went down to 12 men for 10 minutes with the sin-binning of Chris Siddons for a late hit.
The wily Sean Penkywicz took immediate advantage of Rochdale having an extra man as he slid over for a try that was again converted by Sheridan on 21 minutes.
Back came Lane, though, with Calum Butler forcing his way over with a strong finish and Fozzard's second goal made it 18-12 at the break.
The second half was more scrappy as conditions deteriorated. Rochdale lost a man to the sin-bin, but the hosts could not take advantage to score even though they exerted some pressure.
It was Hornets who scored next with Sheridan's penalty, but the fact they were happy to take the two was a moral victory for the amateurs.
Lane's frustrations began to show when Morgan Punchard was shown a yellow card for alleged foul play, although their spirit was intact as indicated by a massive hit on former international star Fuifui Moimoi that brought huge cheers from the crowd.
Mawson's red card for a high tackle as he tried to prevent a try effectively ended Lane's hopes and Rochdale scored a late try when Sheridan went over after selling a clever dummy to create the space.
He added the conversion and veteran Penkywicz kicked a last minute penalty to complete the Hornets' 28-12 success.
After the game Rochdale's Gregg McNally said: "Very professional performance from the boys. Tough place to go, ground it out and into the next round. Fair play to Lock Lane they’ve had a great dig today. Should be incredibly proud of their run this year."
Hornets coach Matt Calland said: “That was a tricky tie; Lock Lane are a credit to the amateur game and not many teams will come away from here with anything in the National Conference League.
"It was an old-fashioned Rugby League game and I’m delighted we got the win.”
Lock Lane coach Paul Couch was proud of his players' efforts.
He said: “I couldn’t be prouder of my players but I’m also disappointed.
"Rochdale were there for the taking but our indiscipline cost us. But our attitude and commitment was fantastic.”