Last updated at 11:52, Monday, 30 July 2012

An emotional Don Gailer hailed his comeback kings after Whitehaven moved to the brink of promotion with an outstanding win against rivals Rochdale.

Don Gailer

Haven put behind them a heavy defeat at Barrow in their last outing to enjoy an emphatic 31-12 victory at Spotland which almost certainly dealt a fatal blow to Hornets’ hopes of moving up to the second tier.

“A week is a long time in footy. Everyone was saying after Barrow that we were shot ducks, and now everyone is singing and cheering,” the coach said.

“I know how quickly the pendulum can turn, but this today has given us a bit of heart. I’ve probably done about 800 of these things, but this was a special one. We worked pretty hard all week and you could see what it meant to everyone out there. We invited Rochdale in a couple of times in the first-half on the back of our mistakes but I thought we dominated all day.

“The forwards laid the platform and we got it right today. We didn’t over-call, everyone knew their jobs and Jamie Rooney ran the show.

“It was a pity we lost Carl Rudd early with a bad cork on his leg, but he was still prepared to go back in with 10 minutes to go.”

Yorkshire-based Rooney missed midweek training with the squad but sent a special message to his coach.

Gailer said: “He couldn’t make Wednesday as there had been a bad traffic accident. But he went straight home and trained down there, and did the same on Thursday.

“We communicated and I told him it was a big important game for the club, the players and probably for me and my hopes of staying here.

“He came back and said we would win, and today he did everything he could to get us across the line.”

The Queenslander also fired a parting shot at Rochdale’s young coach John Stankevitch, who believes there is too much Australian influence in the British game and last week revealed he was considering quitting rugby league after becoming disillusioned with the sport.

“If there’s too much Aussie influence, I hope Stankevitch enjoys his retirement,” added Gailer, who quipped that the drinks were on Workington coach Gary Charlton after Haven’s win yesterday confirmed Town’s promotion to the Championship.

The Hornets could still mathematically have denied Town a top-four finish if they had picked up at least a bonus point against Haven.

“Charlo can buy us a beer sometime after the season,” he smiled.

First published at 11:24, Monday, 30 July 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk