02 July 2022

Rovers got back to winning ways with a convincing start which saw them run in six tries before their opponents even ventured into their half, but a drop in performance after what seemed a serious injury to inspirational full-back Mark Kheirallah saw Thunder raise their game and compete toe to toe even though their efforts were just a consolation. Junior Moors also added to Featherstone’s injury woes with a damaged shoulder. It was Kheirallah who opened the scoring on five minutes, joining the line and taking a pass from Ryley Jacks to slice through from ten metres out. Craig Hall added the extras but hit the post with his next two efforts inside five minutes, the first when he broke upfield from his own half and fed Connor Jones who was miraculously chased down by Gideon Boafo to no avail as Morgan Smith dummied over on the next play, then Jones was again hauled down short after breaking upfield from dummy half. The ball was moved left on the next play and Hall’s long pass sent Jack Broadbent in at the corner. Minutes later Joey Leilua latched onto a Brett Ferres grubber to score in the corner and Hall missed again from wide out. Broadbent then bagged a second off Kheirallah’s long cut-out pass and the creator took over the kicking duties to convert from touch. The point a minute avalanche continued for Rovers when Jack Bussey forced his way over off Jacks’ pass for Kheirallah to add the extras for a 30-0 lead in only 21 minutes before disaster struck for Rovers. Shortly after Mitch Clark was sin-binned for a late hit on Jesse Sene-Lefao, Kheirallah joined the line to set up another attack but went down in the tackle after releasing the pass, and was carried off with a knee injury

            The incident seemed to affect Rovers as 12 man Thunder gained a foothold in their half for the first time, and came up with two quick tries. First Josh Woods switched play on the last and his cut-out pass enabled Sam Halsall to send winger Jack Johnson in at the corner. Soon after ex-Fev favourite Brad Day offloaded to Lewis Peachey who had the ball stripped as he went for the line, but it bounced kindly for Craig Mullen who picked up and went under the posts. Woods converted both scores but their fightback was short-lived as Junior Moors barged over after Bussey was stopped short. Hall resumed kicking duties and registered his 100^th goal of the season. The Newcastle response was almost immediate after the break when Clark, back from the sin-bin offloaded to Josh Eaves near the line. With the margin reduced to 18 points they were still in with a chance when Woods attempted a dangerous grubber near the line, but Hall, now playing full-back, save the day and the some as he raced clear on pick-up and was only stopped by the pace of Johnson twenty metres out. The ball was moved along the line and Bussey raced in at the opposite corner. There was still a glimmer of hope for Thunder when Boafo scored in the corner with an incredible dive over the top of Junior Moors, who suffered a shoulder injury in the process, but what was probably their last hope was halted when Hall tackled the wingman into touch at the corner. Minutes later Hall’s overhead pass sent Broadbent in at the corner and the same player went in for his fourth after Sene-Lefao’s offload to Bussey. Finally Jones picked up a loose offload from Jack Ashworth to wrap up the scoring with Hall’s conversion.