16 February 2020

Featherstone Rovers made it two wins from two in the 2020 Betfred Championship when they defeated Bradford Bulls 30-22 at the Tetley’s Stadium. Tries from Callum McLelland, James Harrison, Jack Bussey, Craig Hall and Ben Blackmore were enough to secure the two-points in extremely windy conditions. After a slow start to the game, Hall made a fantastic break and in the following set Leeds dual-registration youngster McLelland opened the scoring for Rovers, after he gathered a loose ball after Hall’s attempted offload. Featherstone played 20 minutes of the first-half with a man down, first Blackmore was sent to the bin after a couple alterations with the opposition players. Despite being one down, James Webster’s men scored against when Hall’s kick went through the legs of a Bradford defender and Harrison was at hand to ground the ball and score. Then minutes after Blackmore returned to the field, Bussey was sent to sit down for ten minutes after a professional foul. The Bulls capitalised when Thomas Doyle scored just before half-time.

Jordan Lilley then put John Kear’s side level as he latched onto Rowan Milnes’ kick. However, Rovers were back to 13-men when Bussey returned to the field and the 27-year-old then found himself on the scoresheet as he forced his way over beneath the sticks. Hall then got amongst the scoring as his chipped kick was almost snatched by Blackmore, instead the ball was knocked loose and the fullback was first to pounce and restored Featherstone’s 12-point lead. The Bulls weren’t ready to give in though. Tries from Brandon Pickersgill and Matty Dawson-Jones brought the hosts back within 2 points with only eight minutes remaining. However, Blackmore gave Rovers some breathing room when he was found on the left wing and finished in the corner. Then Hall’s brilliant conversion put the game beyond any real doubt.