Featherstone Rovers v Whitehaven  Match report by Daniel Crossfield (a dedicated flatcapper watching from home)

 

 

Featherstone Rovers v Whitehaven Betfred Championship Round 3 (Sunday 25^th April 2021)

This was the third game of the league campaign for Featherstone Rovers and they haven’t yet put in what’s called a full 80 minute performance as they’ve had scoring spurts but they haven’t played to their full potential yet, would this game against Whitehaven be the game that they did?

It was on OurLeague again

It was played at the Millennium Stadium

1^st Featherstone  try

We didn’t have long to wait for the first try of the game, it went to Featherstone after 7 minutes as Ferres crashed over the line to score for his 2^nd try of the season, unsuccessful conversion by Brown.

2^nd Rovers try

Three minutes later, back to back tries for Featherstone after superb play by Holmes allowed Jones to run through  the  Whitehaven defence to score bang under the sticks, successful conversion by Brown this time.

1^st Whitehaven try

Just before the quarter of a hour mark, Whitehaven scored their 1^st try as Karl Dixon scored from a grubber kick , successful conversion by Walmsley.

Just before the midway point of the first half, Rovers came close, didn’t score but were still knocking on Whitehaven’s try line.

3^rd Rovers try

On the half hour mark, it was a 3^rd Featherstone try as Bussey powered his way through  the Whitehaven line to score just to the left of the sticks, successful conversion by Brown.

Halftime score:  Featherstone Rovers 16-6 Whitehaven

It was an entertaining first half , nothing special about the tries but Whitehaven weren’t out of it, so Rovers had to be wary , how would the 2^nd half go?

2^nd Whitehaven try

Two minutes into the 2^nd half, Whitehaven had their 2^nd try as the ball went through hands and Worthington scored superbly in the corner, unsuccessful conversion by Walmsley.

4^th Rovers try

9 minutes later, it was try number four for Rovers as Kopczak slammed his way over the line to score under the posts, successful conversion by Brown.

3^rd Whitehaven try

Two minutes later, Whitehaven scored their 3^rd try and it was a solo one as Dixon passed to Purewal who raced away to score, Unsuccessful conversion from Halliday.

5^th Rovers try

Just before the hour mark, try number five for Featherstone as Brown crashed onto a pass from Moors to score under the posts, successful conversion by Brown

6^th Rovers try

Just after the hour mark, back to back tries again for Rovers, Moors scored down the left side, unsuccessful conversion by Brown who hit the post.

7^th Rovers try

After 64 minutes, a  third back to back to back try for Rovers as Hardcastle attacked the left side again and scored after a move that involved Holmes,  Brown, Hall and finally Hardcastle,  successful conversion by Brown, harsh on Whitehaven as they stuck at it for a hour or so.

8^th Featherstone try

With six minutes remaining, Featherstone scored their 8^th try as Gale steamrolled over Walmsley to score in the right corner, unsuccessful conversion by Brown.

9^th Rovers try

The last try of the game went to Featherstone again and Parata broke, he offloaded to Hall who stepped through the Whitehaven defence  to score under the posts, successful conversion by Brown.

Fulltime score:  Featherstone Rovers 48-14 Whitehaven

So in the end it sounds like a convincing win for Featherstone, but they only started pulling away from Whitehaven in the last 15 minutes, for a hour Whitehaven made it hard work for Featherstone, but it’s 100% so far for Featherstone in the Betfred Championship and they ended the weekend on top of the table.

Featherstone were due to play Toulouse next weekend but it’s been postponed due to Covid concerns and the fact that Featherstone are a part time team, but unlike when Toulouse were due to play London and got an automatic 24-0 win, Toulouse won’t be given an automatic win, it’ll just be replayed at a later date, so next up for Rovers is a trip to face York City Knights on Sunday 9^th May with a 3pm kickoff.