19 February 2023

IT WAS the result most would have expected as Sean Long’s Featherstone racked up fourteen tries for the second successive season at home to Whitehaven, scoring at the rate of almost a point a minute to cement their place at the top of the Championship table. The result was decided within the opening fifteen minutes as three converted tries saw Rovers rack up a healthy 18-point advantage.

The first of them came from the returning Joey Leilua when the ball was swung to the right and the powerful centre was able to wriggle his arm free of two defenders to touch down. The second came when a wicked bounce saw the fullback Josh Rourke disorientated. The ball bounced off the head of the former Salford player and fell kindly into the waiting hands of Thomas Lacans. Then came from a barnstorming break from Craig Hall, which allowed Craig Kopczak to power his way under the sticks, with Hall converting all three. After Gadwin Springer was ruled to have knocked on at the play-the-ball, from the resulting scrum it came left into the hands of Wigan loanee Junior Nsemba. The second rower found Rourke, who exploited a gap in the home defence to cross out wide on the left, although he was unable to convert his own try. Three tries in the final eight minutes of the half saw Rovers fortify their lead, the first coming when John Davies was able to saunter past four retreating defenders to score. McKenzie Yei then took further advantage, crashing over from short range following two setrestarts. And Riley Dean touched down after showing some fancy footwork, with Hall converting all three tries.

The second half saw Rovers run in eight unanswered tries as they put the fatigued visitors to the sword. Gareth Gale bookended the secondhalf scoring. His first effort came from a Caleb Aekins break when he was the fastest to react to an offload from Dean. Hall missed his first of the afternoon, hitting the left-hand post for what would be the first of three times in the second half. The scoreboard continued to tick over as Jack Bussey and Connor Jones broke through the middle to score. Hall converted both. Aekins was the benefactor of a set play coming right from a scrum as the Welsh international touched down, followed by a Luke Briscoe try which saw th e ball going through at least five pairs of hands. Gale then crossed for his second following another Hall break. It was a moment to forget for Jacob Douglas as he looked to usher a ball dead from what seemingly looked like a nothing kick. But it took a wicked bounce over the shoulder of the young winger and Leilua couldn’t believe his luck as he caught the ball beyond the try line to score before Gale was once again in support of a break down the left, this time from Bussey. Gale was given the ball in space and was able to spin his way around the desperate Haven defence to touch down under the sticks.