27 July 2014

All eyes went to one name on the team sheet with the return of Jamie Rooney to his boyhood club. However, it was James Mendeika in his new role of fullback who provided the opening, with an offload to Gareth Moore who stepped through and managed to ground the ball, despite the efforts of the home defence. Featherstone did not follow this up well however, as Whitehaven then moved the ball out wide to the left, where Tom Carr produced a one handed offload to send Calvert over in the corner. Rovers responded with a quick fire double inside ten minutes. The first came after a pair of offloads from Moore and Worthington gave Sharp an opportunity one on one. He then kicked through and rounded his man, diving on the ball as it was inches from the dead ball line. Then Featherstone fans saw a first taste of Jamie Rooney, as he sent Ian Hardman crashing over, extending the lead to two scores. Whitehaven responded and a combination of ill discipline and lacklustre try line defence from Featherstone allowed them to hit back. Southerwood played provider twice, first with a short pass to send McAvoy over and then with a grubber kick, which was seized by Calvert. The final try of the half however was one of the most disappointing, with three men appearing certain to have Forster tackled short, but he miraculously found his way over.

Featherstone returned to the field in determined fashion and showed their intentions from the off, as Rooney and Hardman combined, giving Jason Crookes time to run inside after crossing at the corner to make Gareth Moore's conversion easier, in order that he could level the score. Andy Kain then showed his qualities at hooker with a smart ball inside to Andy Bostock who reached over to land the ball on the whitewash. Rovers then found a way over down the left channel through Greg Worthington in acres of space, following a 40/20 on free play from Andy Bostock of all people. Rooney then added to the misery of the Cumbrians, slotting over a drop-goal to seal game and take away their bonus point with quarter of an hour remaining.

Featherstone suffered a devastating blow in the final ten minutes. Young star James Mendeika went down with a knee injury and his loss through a serious injury could be a huge blow to both player and team.