Featherstone Rovers v York City Knights match report watched by a dedicated flatcapper Daniel Crossfield at Wembley

Featherstone Rovers v York City Knights 1895 Cup final at Wembley (Sat 17^th July 2021)

This was Fev’s first appearance at Wembley since 1983 and their 1^st at the new 1, and York’s 1st appearance since 1931 in the curtain-raiser to the Betfred Challenge Cup final.

 This game was in doubt earlier in the week due to positive cases in Fev squad, but they all got tested Thursday evening and Friday morning and all available players tested negative, York had to get tested on Saturday morning, but all were negative.  It was played in front of a sparse crowd but it got bigger as the afternoon went on, and I was one of the people inside Wembley.

So could Rovers win the 1895 Cup  for the town, community, players who missed out and the head coach James Webster or would York win it?

After 2 minutes, Chisholm did a 40/20 kick, then a couple of plays later, Rovers won a penalty and Chisholm kicked to the corner towards Doyle, but he couldn’t quite get it down.

1^st Rovers try

Five minutes later, Rovers made the pressure count, and on the last tackle of the set, Chisholm did a magical right foot step and used his pace to score under sticks, successful conversion by Hall.

1^st York try

Three minutes later, York replied with their 1^st try with their 1^st attack, and a kick to the corner and Jones-Bishop leapt above Gale to score in the corner, unsuccessful conversion by Dixon.

2^nd Featherstone try

After a quarter of the game, Rovers extended their lead again, as Whiteley dropped the ball, and on the 2^nd tackle Kopczak spun and got the ball over the line, successful conversion by Hall.

2^nd York try

Six minutes later, York responded again as they had a set restart and Stott did good footwork and scurried over, successful conversion by Dixon.

3^rd Fev try

After 33 minutes, there was a set restart for Rovers and Harrison got held up, and on the last tackle , the ball went through hands out wide and Doyle scored in the corner, unsuccessful conversion by Hall.

4^th Rovers try

The final try of a brilliant 1^st half came after 37 minutes as Rovers did back to back tries as the ball went through hands, Davies broke and passed inside to Brown who sprinted away to score under the sticks, successful conversion by Hall.

Halftime score: Featherstone Rovers 22-10 York City Knights

It was a superb 1^st half with 6 tries in total, but Rovers in front at the break, how would the 2^nd half go?

3^rd York try and a controversial one

3 minutes into the 2^nd half, a controversial try for York as froma  Rovers knock-on, on the 2^nd tackle, Brining scored, but he didn’t get the ball down, but there was no video referee in the 1895 Cup final, so try awarded, successful conversion by Dixon.

4^th York try

Just a few minutes later, York had the easiest try as Hall ran into his own man, dropped the ball and Bass went over under the sticks, successful conversion by Dixon and we had a level game at 22-22.

Fev penalty

After 50 minutes, Rovers won a penalty and they elected to take the 2 on offer, and Hall converted.

5^th Rovers try

Four minutes later, Try number five for Featherstone as from a set restart, the ball went through hands out wide and Doyle scored in the corner for his 2nd try, successful conversion by Hall.

6^th Rovers try

After 57 minutes, another Featherstone try and it was another good one as Brown passed to Harrison who broke and scored, successful conversion by Hall.

7^th Fev try

On the hour, a 7^th Rovers try as again the ball went through hands , Ferres passed to Hall who ran and scored, successful conversion by Hall, surely the cup was coming back to West Yorkshire?

5^th York try

With 10 minutes remaining, York had their 5^th try as they scored from a Rovers droput and Lewis scurried over, successful conversion by Dixon.

Drop goal for Fev

With 4 minutes remaining, clevr thinking by Rovers as they won a penalty and from the 2^nd tackle, Chisholm went for the drop goal and successfully converted it, to give Rovers a 13 point lead.

6^th York try

With 2 minutes remaining, York scored the final try of a superb game as Whiteley intercepted and ran the length of the field, Hall couldn’t quite catch him and Whiteley scored, successful conversion by Dixon.

Fulltime score: Featherstone Rovers 41-34 York City Knights

A really entertaining game with 13 tries, as Rovers just edged it.

It was then time for the presentation, and the medals were collected first, and then James Lockwood Rovers captain collected the trophy and walked over to his team mates and lifted the 1895 Cup.

Then Rovers players came across to their end and each player lifted the cup in front of the Fev supporters.

The full game is on BBC Iplayer if people wanted to watch again or watch for the 1^st time.

Next up for Featherstone is a West Yorkshire derby away at Bradford in the Betfred Championship on Sunday July 25^th with a 3pm kickoff.