Dons boss Paul Cooke felt his side ‘ticked another box’ in the club’s bid to finish in the top-four of the Championship in yesterday’s game at Spotland.
“We’d spoken in midweek that it was imperative that we beat Rochdale so I was thankful to pick up the three points and move on,” said Cooke after the club’s 22-16 win.
“We’ve now got a week off before two really big fixtures to finish our league campaign.
“It was greasy and windy out there and the team which controlled the ball best was always going to win the game.
“We tried to play for field position in the first half (when we had the wind) and I thought we did well and were full value for our half-time lead.
“I don’t think that we were ever in danger of not winning the game after we had taken the lead just before half-time, until perhaps the last play of the game after they had scored a late try.”
Despite the fact that Hornets were already relegated, Cooke admitted he had expected a tough game.
“They could be more carefree because they had nothing to lose and are planning for 2015 in a different division
“We also didn’t know who would be playing for them because they’ve changed their team quite a bit.”
Although Dewsbury, the club’s nearest challengers for fourth place, beat derby rivals Batley, Cooke insisted they weren’t putting any pressure on his side.
“The only pressure on us is from ourselves,” he said. “Our fate is in our own hands and we know we’ve got to be good in our two remaining games.”
“If we are good then we’ll be there or thereabouts (in both games) but if not then we could lose them and the players understand that.
“They know we’ve got to be on our game most weeks in this division or we’ll get beat.”