Whitehaven 38 Rochdale Hornets 0

Whitehaven claimed yet another Championship scalp as their Challenge Cup dream continues, after dumping Rochdale Hornets out of the competition.

It was a superb team performance, with some flashes of individual brilliance, notably from half-back Callum Phillips, as Haven clinched a convincing 38-0 win.

Their defensive display was second to none as they denied their visitors any points in the encounter, despite being down to 12-men on two occasions.

Two lovely tries from Phillips and five kicks from the boot of Dan Abram had given Haven a healthy 18-0 lead over Rochdale at the break.

And it was well-deserved after some great defence helped them to survive an early onslaught.

But, once Haven found their rhythm, Rochdale found themselves in a tough encounter.

The opening moments of the game proved tasty with two injury breaks, the first forcing Rochdale's Ben Moores to be helped from the field.

Then, Whitehaven began to apply the pressure and as they closed in on the visitors' line, Dion Aiye kicked on the last and was then taken out by his former team-mate Dave Allen, now wearing the colours of Rochdale.

The incident was put on report and Haven looked to use the penalty to their advantage and it nearly worked as skipper Marc Shackley charged for the line, being halted agonisingly close.

Callum Phillips then put a neat grubber in, looking for chasers but the Hornets were able to shepherd it over the dead ball line.

Haven put themselves under some pressure with several sets on their own line but the defence held up well to halt Tobias Adamson's charge and hold him up over the try line.

The home side suffered again as a string of decisions went against them and then Carl Forster was sent to cool his heels in the sin bin.

And Haven put in some heroic defence with their 12 men on their own line to hold the Hornets out.

They moved up to the opposite end of the field and applied some pressure of their own, resulting in a penalty conversion from Dan Abram, putting the home side ahead.

Haven continued to push and it was a little bit of magic from half-back Callum Phillips that saw the home side edge further ahead.

He took on the line and spotted a gap and jinked his way through and surged over the line, leaving Abram to add the conversion before Forster rejoined the play.

Whitehaven suddenly moved into the ascendancy and started to take control, forcing a dropout from behind the sticks.

And as the visitors conceded yet another penalty, they were put on a team warning and Haven decided to go for goal with Abram slotting the ball between the sticks to make it 10-0.

A great kick and chase from Haven got them even better field position as they got a scrum 10-metres out from the Rochdale line.

It looked as though Phillips had no options left as he was forced to change direction as he attacked the line.

He dummied on a couple of occasions before spotting the gap and skipped through on a great angled run to touch down with a flourish. Abram added the extras.

They then made a mistake, knocking on near their own line but they held out again and, as Rochdale looked to get the ball out wide, it was intercepted by Jessie Joe Parker.

The centre powered down the field, reaching the Rochdale 40-metre line before he was hauled down and the visitors gave away another penalty, seeing Dave Allen sent to the sin bin.

And, as the hooter sounded, Abram kept his cool and slotted over the resulting penalty to see Haven lead 18-0 at the break.

The second half was only a minute old when Haven struck again, Danny Green picked the ball up in his own in-goal area and broke through the covering tacklers.

He raced upfield, going 60-metres before drawing the full-back and slipping the pass to the supporting Abram who finished the move off to score and tagged on the conversion.

Haven had a golden opportunity to get over again just minutes later when Dave Thompson broke through. He took the decision to go on his own but, when the defence closed in, he passed in the wrong direction and Rochdale got the ball back.

Then a succession of penalties against the home side allowed Rochdale the chance to get back in the game.

Jovilisi Taira was held up over the line with some great defence but the ref then sin-binned Lewis Reece for an incident in another tackle and the home side had to hold out again with just 12-men.

Rochdale forced a drop-out and had numbers in the attack but their final ball was forward.

A great little ball out the back from Chris Taylor released Green up the wing as the sun came back out at the Recre.

He returned the favour back to Taylor and then on to the supporting Phillips who was hauled down 30-metres out.

Quick hands out to the left-hand side and Haven thought they were in as Parker stuck out an arm to touch down but the ref pulled play back for a forward pass and they were denied.

They got the ball back from a Rochdale mistake in their own half and a grubber kick from Aiye was chased down by Parker, forcing the defender out of play for a drop-out.

With just over 20 minutes to go, Haven hit the 30-point mark.

Abram looked for a little kick and chase near the line, Rochdale fumbled the ball and Connor Holliday nipped in for an easy tap to score, with Abram converting.

Taylor proved inventive as he scooped up a loose ball and dodged and weaved his way to just short of the try line. He looked to slip the ball out to the left but Haven couldn't hold on and the chance went begging.

It was then Aiye's turn to create an opportunity as he took on the defence and jinked his way through before using the supporting Parker who raced over the line, Abram again on target.

The youngster added a penalty, his ninth kick on target of the day as Haven moved out to 38-0.

Taylor gave away a penalty near his own line when he lifted Declan Kay in the tackle but again Haven held out, determined to nil their opponents.

Callum Phillips, who was Haven's man-of-the-match, had to leave the field in the last five minutes, after taking a bad knock.

But it was Haven who were deserving victors at the full-time whistle and have booked their place in the next round of the cup, when the top eight sides from Super League enter the competition.