FEATHERSTONE ROVERS fell to a shock defeat in the Challenge Cup Third Round this afternoon against the Halifax Panthers.
Rovers had put over 40 points past Simon Grix’s men earlier in the Championship season, but they fell to a 22-18 defeat at the Millennium Stadium.
It was Featherstone’s first defeat of 2023 and for head coach Sean Long, it was hard to take as he gave full credit to Halifax.
“It’s not nice losing especially in the Challenge Cup where the next round could have been a decent draw,” Long told League Express.
“I think we turned up with a lack of intent and composure and it cost us in the end. You can’t do that against a quality side like Halifax. I think they were the better team on the day.
“I think they had a gameplan and they stuck to it. We completed our first five sets and then after that we didn’t complete a set in the next four or six sets.
“It’s like a compound effect, we had no energy when we did get the ball. We showed some resilience defending our try-line at times but we did too much of it.
“And against a team like Halifax, who can throw the ball around, it’s going to take its toll on you in the end.”
Long also bemoaned the lack of smart play and ill-discipline that compounded in Josh Hardcastle being sent from the field with five minutes to go.
“We had chances to win at the end with a couple of sets on the try-line but we weren’t smart or clinical enough to do that. It’s a tough first defeat but now we’ve only got one competition to focus on,” Long continued.
“I think it was ill-discipline but that boils into frustration, things not going your way, going behind and then losing a man with five minutes to go.
“That show in the way we played, we played frustrated. Mouthing off at the referee, that’s not acceptable and that’s not our standards. That probably summed it up in one fell swoop.”
