FEATHERSTONE ROVERS 48 BARROW RAIDERS 12
THOMAS ALDERSON, Millennium Stadium, Sunday

FEATHERSTONE moved into the play-off places on the back of a thoroughly dominant win over fellow top-six contenders Barrow.

Rovers were looking to bounce back after a deflating loss to York the week before and responded in the best way possible, dictating terms throughout an impressive first half which saw them rack up 30 points before half-time and rarely looked threatened in the second to move into sixth place on the ladder, now just one point behind Barrow. 

Their coach Paul Cooke was pleased with his side’s display.

“We needed a response from last week and we got one. We started the game really well and we were pretty good on the whole,” he said.

“We put a real focus on our contact defensively as we were poor last week. The players took it personally and responded this week. Once we got to grips with going hard and fast, we took over the game and Barrow didn’t have an answer.”

By contrast, Raiders coach Paul Crarey admitted his side had been way off.

“Our body language was poor from the start and we looked flat,” he said.

“We had a spell in the first 15 minutes where we missed a chance but from then on they just rolled us through the middle and their spine was outstanding.

“We got ourselves into an emotional battle we weren’t going to win and lost all focus, which was disappointing, but we have to dust ourselves down and go again at home next week.”

The hosts opened the scoring inside two minutes through Gareth Gale, who cleaned up a spilt kick to touch down in the right corner.

Barrow hit back immediately off the back of a Rovers error, with Finn McMillan taking an offload to score next to the posts and lock up the scores.

Rovers went ahead again ten minutes later, with Will Jubb taking a pass out of the tackle from King Vuniyayawa to score a converted try on the right.

The hosts were dominating field position and scored again through Reynolds, who pounced on a brilliant kick into the in-goal from his halves partner Ryan Hampshire, converting his own try to make it 12-point lead.

Featherstone were running hot and added two more tries before the break, with Clay Webb taking a lovely Danny Addy pass to score, before James Glover raced over in the left corner minutes before half-time to put his side in total control.

Glover added a second shortly after half-time as the home side clicked straight back into gear before a rare opportunity for Barrow was converted by Matty Costello, who beat a defender to score.

However, that was little more than consolation as Rovers responded with a try to Vuniyayawa, who strolled through a huge gap in the Raiders’ defence to score.

Things got worse for the visitors when Alex Bishop was sent off late in the game for punching and Fev punished their opponents with a try to Sitaleki Akauola from a kick minutes from time to underline a thoroughly dominant win. 

GAMESTAR: Danny Addy led by example, playing the whole game and having a hand in a number of his side’s tries. 

GAMEBREAKER: Ben Reynolds’ terrific try from Ryan Hampshire’s kick put Fev two scores ahead, an advantage they only built on from there. 

MATCHFACTS
ROVERS
1 Caleb Aekins
5 Gareth Gale
20 Josh Hardcastle
29 James Glover
2 Derrell Olpherts
6 Ben Reynolds
28 Ryan Hampshire
16 King Vuniyayawa
9 Will Jubb
10 Jimmy Beckett
39 Leon Ruan
17 Clay Webb
13 Danny Addy
Subs (all used)
8 Gadwin Springer
14 Connor Jones
15 Sitaleki Akauola
38 Pat Moran


Tries: Gale (2), Jubb (15), Reynolds (24), Webb (28), Glover (36, 42), Vuniyayawa (57), Akauola (77)
Goals: Reynolds 7/7, Hampshire 1/1

RAIDERS
1 Luke Cresswell
30 Tee Ritson
18 Curtis Teare
4 Luke Broadbent
5 Shane Toal
22 Alex Bishop
7 Ryan Johnston
8 Tom Walker
14 Aaron Smith
23 Joe Bullock
11 Ellis Robson
3 Matty Costello
21 Finn McMillan
Subs (all used)
10 Ramon Silva
16 Charlie Emslie
25 Aiden Doolan
32 Ryan Brown

Tries: McMillan (5), Costello (48)
Goals: Johnston 2/2
Dismissal: Bishop (72) – punching

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 12-6, 18-6, 24-6, 30-6; 36-6, 36-12, 42-12, 48-12

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Rovers: Danny Addy; Raiders: Luke Broadbent

Penalty count: 6-6
Half-time: 30-6
Referee: Scott Mikalauskas
Attendance: 1,680