Featherstone Rovers v London Broncos Match report by Daniel Crossfield (a dedicated flatcapper)

Featherstone Rovers v  London Broncos   Betfred Championship Round 12  Saturday  3^rd July 2021

This was a Saturday teatime clash again to avoid clashing with the England football team and it was 2^nd placed and on fire Featherstone Rovers against London Broncos who started this match in mid table.

Could Rovers  make it 11 wins from 11  in the Championship and keep their brilliant momentum going ahead of Wembley in 2 weeks time, or would London  inflict a first defeat of the league season on Rovers?

It was played at The Millennium Stadium

After 2 minutes, Rovers made 50m upfield before the kick on the last tackle, put London in their own 10m area.  A minute later, Chisholm nailed a 40/20 but it didn’t come to anything.

Six minutes later, Bussey was fouled on halfway, play was stopped momentarily before the ball was kicked to a  20m attacking position.

Two minutes later, Chisholm dinked a little grubber kick through, but couldn’t quite ground the ball, which forced a Goal line dropout for London.

1^st Rovers try

Just a minute later, the first Rovers try and it went to Hall who was played through on the wing to score, successful conversion by Hall, how many points would Rovers score this week after 60+ in their last 2?

2^nd Fev try

Just before the quarter of an hour mark, Featherstone scored their 2^nd try as Brown broke the line on halfway and sped through before offloading to Dagger who dived over, successful conversion by Hall.

1^st London try

After 18 minutes, London scored their 1^st try through Hankinson, unsuccessful conversion.

3^rd Fev try

At the midway point of the 1^st half, try number 3 for Rovers as Hall put the hard yards in as he broke free on the left wing, before passing inside to Chisholm who sprinted over to score under the sticks, successful conversion by Hall.

After 23 minutes, London was down to 12 men as Gaze was sin binned for a tackle on Bussey.

4^th Rovers try

It didn’t take long for Featherstone to make advantage of a man advantage as after 25 minutes, Moors steamrollered through the London defence to score, successful conversion by Hall. 

5^th Featherstone try

Two minutes later, try five for Rovers as it was an interception which was followed by a 50m sprint for Hall to score, successful conversion of his own try by Hall.

2^nd London try

After 31 minutes, London got a 2^nd try as Sammut scored for them, successful conversion by Hankinson

6^th Rovers try

Three minutes later, it was a super try by Rovers as Chisholm and Hall combining, as Chisholm dinked a chip towards the left wing, Hall caught it on the full and went over in the corner, unsuccessful conversion by Hall.

Drop goal by Chisholm

A minute before halftime, Chisholm went for a drop goal and he kicked it to stretch it to a 25 point lead.

7^th Rovers try

The last action of the 1^st half was another Rovers try as Pirate finished a superb team try off, successful conversion by Hall.

Halftime score: Featherstone Rovers 41-10 London Broncos

Another superb 1^st half by a Rovers team who look and feel so confident right now, how would the 2^nd half go, more Rovers points?

8^th Rovers try

Five minutes into the 2^nd half, another Featherstone try as some superb skill by Chisholm saw him feign 2 dummies on his way through a 60m run before he offloaded to Gale to score, unsuccessful conversion by Hall.

9^th Featherstone try

Four minutes later, Field powered his way over for the 2nd try of the 2^nd half, successful conversion by Hall which brought the 50 up again for Rovers.

10^th Rovers try

A couple of minutes later the scoring didn’t stop there for Featherstone as Gale set Brown up for a try, successful conversion by Hall.

After 57 minutes, a rare London chance but they dropped the ball 5m out.

11^th and final Fev try

It took a while but with 7 minutes remaining, Featherstone scored their 11^th try of the game as Brown powered over for his 2^nd try, successful conversion by Hall.

3^rd London try

The last action was a consolation try for London after 78 minutes as Miskin scored, unsuccessful conversion.

Fulltime score:  Featherstone Rovers 63-14 London Broncos

So another emphatic win for Featherstone as they piled on the points again, but unfortunately Thomas Minns and Jack Bussey got serious injuries which will rule them out of Wembley on 17^th July.

It means Featherstone  re still somehow 2^nd in the Championship after 11 wins from 11, and 6 points clear of Toulouse, it baffles me how that can be the case..

Anyway next up for Rover is their Wembley warmup away at Widnes Vikings on Sunday 11^th July with a 3pm kickoff, and its live on OurLeague