13 July 2014

There had been no clear cut chance in the opening ten minutes and it required a lapse in concentration on Rovers' part to break the deadlock. Liam Kent retrieved Andy Ellis's errant pass, but lost it in a one on one tackle, leaving Barber to stroll in and put the home side in front. Having gone behind early on, Rovers responded with a trio of tries within a five minute window. The first was Trout diving over after James tipped the ball on, and then Dale was the quickest to react after Moore's kick rebounded off an opposing player. Mendeika scored the third from full-back after he and Hardman had switched positions half-way through the first period. After Chris Atkin showed his awareness, pouncing on the loose ball in the in-goal area, Kain ensured his side finished the half on a high. He provided a moment of magic, changing his weight distribution twice before ducking beneath a challenge and curving his run around the fullback, taking the gap to two scores once again.

In the first attack of the second half a cut out pass from Moore, followed by a sublime offload from Greg Worthington saw Will Sharp fly in at the left corner. Swinton were undeterred however, and Atkin broke downfield before handing it onto Hawkyard who was tackled desperately close. They got the ball away early, and Ainscough was able to send the ball inside before receiving it back to finish. The game continued to be tit for tat. Moore sent James through to be tackled close, and on the next play the ball was spread wide for Kain to combine with Hardman to give Crookes the opportunity to touch down. This was followed up by Ellis, who dummied right before twisting over in the tackle. The Lions responded through Mike Morrison, who was put through by Ackers who re-gathered his own chip ahead and passed as Mendeika was drawn into the tackle. Featherstone then finished with a flurry; Mendeika and Hardman provided a fine pair of offloads, allowing Crookes to come in and charge over for his second. For the final try of the game, Crossley's offload returned the ball to Ellis, who sent Annakin flying through to top off a fine performance from the dual-registered forward.