
FEATHERSTONE ROVERS 36 LONDON BRONCOS 18
KEITH McGHIE, Millennium Stadium, Sunday
A STRONG second-half display earned Featherstone an eighth win in ten games to hoist them back up among the play-off candidates.
Following their worrying early season form, Paul Cooke has seemingly installed a winning mentality into his charges, which was evident in a game where recently in-form London led 12-4 at half-time.
The victory moves Featherstone above Barrow and Halifax into a season’s-high fifth place in the table, while denting the Broncos’ recent resurgent run which enabled the capital side to enter the game on the back of three wins in their last four games.
Cooke brought Connor Wynne back into the side that was narrowly defeated in France the previous week, while Sitaleki Akauola replaced Pat Moran, who had returned to Oldham.
Louix Gorman was pulled back by Hull KR, so the Broncos had Aaron Small in the centres with Dan Okoro, on loan from Warrington until the end of the season, making his debut off of the bench in place of concussion victim Huw Worthington.
A stop-start first half was punctuated by early injuries and other stoppages.
Small and Jimmy Beckett received lengthy treatment on the pitch before being able to continue and, despite playing down the Post Office Road slope, the Broncos were twice forced to drop out from under their own posts.
At the other end, a deft grubber led to Brandon Webster claiming he had grounded the ball within the field of play, but referee Ryan Cox was adamant that was not the case.
The opening try came after the Broncos were penalised for as knock-on deep in their own half and, straight from scrum, Ben Reynolds glided through a gaping hole to score, although unexpectedly he struck the far post with his conversion attempt. It was his only miss in seven attempts at goal.
With just over ten minutes of the half remaining, Marcus Stock muscled his way over and winger Jack Smith, who kicked eight out of nine the week beforehand, had no such trouble edging the Broncos ahead from in front of the posts.
Just a minute before the break Alex Walker followed a short Connor O’Beirne kick, which was deflected, to help increase the Broncos’ lead to eight points.
Almost immediately after the interval Caleb Aekins found a clear diagonal path to the line and, with Reynolds’ kick, the deficit was down to two points.
Now, with gravity and the crowd behind them, Rovers pressed for more and a wonderful finish earned Derrell Olpherts his twelfth Championship try of the season.
A powerful run by Clay Webb almost pushed the margin out further, but desperate defence held the second rower up.
Quick hands and good support work then saw Connor Jones put the frequently evasive and ever industrious Ryan Hampshire over.
As London tried to stem the tide, O’Beirne broke clear for the Broncos and Ethan Natoli, in support, handed over to Curtis Davies, who just ran out of steam and was caught and held up under the posts.
Aekins chased a long, kindly-bouncing kick to claim his second try and, with Reynolds converting each time, Rovers had scored 24 unanswered points in just 19 minutes.
Reynolds landed a late penalty and Will Jubb dived over from close range in the dying seconds to cap a fine second-half comeback.
GAMESTAR: Ryan Hampshire’s industry and evasive running was allied to a fine and varied kicking game.
GAMEBREAKER: Hampshire’s try on 58 minutes put Rovers 16 points ahead and the Broncos were never going to get back on terms.
MATCHFACTS
ROVERS
1 Caleb Aekins
23 Connor Wynne
5 Gareth Gale
29 James Glover
2 Derrell Olpherts
6 Ben Reynolds
28 Ryan Hampshire
8 Gadwin Springer
9 Will Jubb
10 Jimmy Beckett
11 Brad Day
17 Clay Webb
13 Danny Addy
Subs (all used)
14 Connor Jones
15 Sitaleki Akauola
16 King Vuniyayawa
37 Nathan Wilde
Tries: Reynolds (17), Aekins (43, 62), Olpherts (51), Hampshire (58), Jubb (79)
Goals: Reynolds 6/7
BRONCOS
6 Luke Polselli
33 Jack Smith
4 Brandon Webster
20 Aaron Small
5 Liam Tindall
1 Alex Walker
7 Connor O’Beirne
10 Lewis Bienek
9 Curtis Davies
12 Sadiq Adebiyi
3 Ethan Natoli
11 Will Lovell
13 Marcus Stock
Subs (all used)
15 Dan Okoro
18 Ben Hursey-Hord
22 Matt Ross
34 Tommy Porter
Tries: Stock (29), Walker (39), O’Beirne (69)
Goals: Smith 3/3
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 4-6, 4-12; 10-12, 16-12, 22-12, 28-12, 28-18, 30-18, 36-18
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Rovers: Ryan Hampshire; Broncos: Connor O’Beirne
Penalty count: 6-4
Half-time: 4-12
Referee: Ryan Cox