RED-HOT ROVERS!
Jacob Doyle dives over for a Featherstone try
FEATHERSTONE fought off the impact of Covid issues and a spirited York team to win on their first Wembley appearance since 1983.
It was a dream day out for the passionate fans of an historic club who are working hard to get back to the game’s top table.
Yet it looked for a short while that they would never get this afternoon in the sun at all.
Covid threatened to deal the cruellest blow when numerous positive tests were announced two days beforehand and, though a clean follow-up round of testing brought a huge sigh of relief, Rovers still had to manage without a host of senior players and their head coach, James Webster, for the big occasion.
Happily, after a nervous week off the field – with the City Knights experiencing their own Covid scare and missing some big-hitters themselves – there was still plenty of drama left for the match itself.
Featherstone, led by assistant coach Paul March, still went in as favourites having run rampant in the Championship so far this season with twelve wins out of twelve, and they led by a dozen points at the break after tries from Dane Chisholm, Craig Kopczak, Jacob Doyle and Fa’amanu Brown and three Craig Hall goals.