Featherstone Rovers 34 - 14 Dewsbury Rams

Match report by Ossy

This wasn’t a game I’ll remember with any great affection. A month ago, I suggested that the Ram’s victory over Fev might be the wake up call the Rovers needed, and maybe this was one we needed. Reading through the notes I made during the game, I see – ‘11minutes, Rams still on the bus…’ a situation that continued to be the case for much of the game.

Our problems began as early as the second minute, stuart Dickens kicking a penalty from in front of the posts. Right away they were back at us, centre Andy Kirk making the initial break before second row Steve Dooler jinked through a static defence to score, Dickens adding the conversion.

Hooker Jos McLocklan was next to breach the Rams defence, only for his kick to the corner to run dead. Then a good 40-20 kept us pinned on our own line where, going right, Kirk ran a good angle to take the ball, burst through the Rams defence and score. It was only now that we began to settle, though Dickens kicked another penalty around the 20 minute mark before scrum half Dean Lawford dummied his way over for a much needed try.

The rest of the half was a bit of a slog. Both sides had their chances, but the game remained tight, and half time arrived with the score at 14-4. Though we hardly deserved to be, we were still in the game at this point.

Unfortunately the second half began in much the same way as the first, an early penalty to Dickens followed Pat Walker’s high tackle. 10 minutes in, winger McHugh broke out of defence and though he was hailed down in the middle of the field, our defence was all at sea again. The ball was moved left, and winger Lee Linguard was on hand to score their third try. This time Dickens conversion attempt came back off the post, but Fev were back in charge.

Scrum half Tiger Handforth was impressive throughout, and it was his delayed pass to Jamie Field coming on the angle allowed the second row to cut through and score easily. Dickens added the conversion and with the score at 26-4, Fev were fast disappearing over the horizon. It took a yellow card to prop Tony Tonks to get the Rams back into the game. Chris Langley forced his way over, and Pat Walker added an excellent touchline conversion, before Andy Bostock added their third try, narrowing the score to 26-14.

Having given themselves a chance to get back into the game, Rams then threw it away again. Going left, they switched off when the move broke down, allowing stand off Andy Kain to gather and race 60 metres to score in the corner. Though the conversion fell short, a couple of drop goals from Handforth made up the shortfall and killed off the game.

With 4 minutes on the clock, Dominic Maloney got a yellow card, and James Houston slotted over the resultant penalty to complete the scoring at 34-14.

To be honest we were never really in this game, and with the season proper getting underway in 2 weeks, we still have plenty of work left to do before facing the long trip into Wales to face the Crusaders. Given the fact that London Skolars have just made that trip and come away with a win, maybe it won’t be a fruitless trip after all, though we’ll need to perform a lot better than we did today.

Having had my grumble about a below par performance, I can’t help wondering how much the NRC rules contributed to the outcome. That’s not to belittle Featherstone’s performance in any way, they wanted it far more than we did, and outplayed us at every stage. Only, with our place in the knock out stages already assured, I can’t help feeling that the side lacked both pride and motivation today. That can only come from the players themselves, and I’m afraid it was sadly lacking today. Losing isn’t the kind of thing I like to see, but losing in such a manner is a bad habit to get into, and we’ll need to put that right sharpish.

Teams:- DEWSBURY RAMS :- Mark Field; Kane Epati; Chris Langley; Andrew Bostock; Austin Buchanan; Josh Weeden; Dean Lawford; Joe Helme; Luke Haigh; Dominic Maloney; Ter Glassie; Alex Bretherton; Patrick Walker. Subs :- Liam Finn; Martin Robinson: Aaron Trinder; David Rourke.

FEATHERSTONE ROVERS :- Loz Wildbore; Wayne McHugh; Andy Kirk; Tommy Saxton; Lee Linguard; Andy Kain; Paul Handforth; Tony Tonks; Joe McLocklan; Stuart Dickens; Jamie Field; Steve Dooler; Tommy Haughey. Subs :- Carl Hughes; James Houston; Danny Richardson; Shaun Hesketh.

Referee :- Mr. G. Hewer. Attendance :- 1,243

Man of Match :- Paul Handforth.