Featherstone Rovers 74 Workington Town 0
Andrew Beattie on the attack
After conceding a try inside 30 seconds Workington’s remote hopes of pulling-off a shock win had virtually disappeared and Rovers romped to a victory, every bit as emphatic as the scoreline suggests.
Town’s prospects had been boosted by that splendid derby victory over Whitehaven but this was a painful reminder that one swallow doesn’t make a summer and it’s consistency of performance which is going to measure Workington’s season.
Coaches Gary Charlton and Martin Oglanby expected a tough test but were not prepared for the slaughter which ensued.
“I know they are a Championship side, and are going to be one of the top teams in the Division, but that still doesn’t excuse our performance.
“It was impossible to find any positives from the game and we will be looking for the players to put-up their hands and take responsibility,” said Oglanby.
After what happened against Whitehaven, followed by the disappointment in south Wales and the hammering at Featherstone, it must seem like three steps forward and then four backwards for Town.
Late illness and injury set-backs meant Town had to change their starting line-up from the one selected as John Lebbon and Lee Dutton dropped-out, and they went into action without what would have been their starting front-row.
But that doesn’t excuse some of the powder-puff tackling and lack of ideas with the ball in hand. Although Featherstone dominated territory and possession for long periods, Town rarely threatened the Rovers line.
There were two, all too brief, moments when Town might have fashioned something positive. Both stemmed from Jamie Marshall breaks but first Scott Kaighan and then Scott Burgess were nailed n the Featherstone 22.
Rovers had beaten Hunslet 68-0 on Thursday in a Northern Rail Cup-tie and simply continued where they left off against Town.
“We had studied Workington and saw areas where we thought we could hurt them. I have to say our guys are playing with a lot of confidence, scoring tries for fun and the fact that we haven’t conceded a point in our last two games is encouraging.
“But we are well aware there will be a lot stiffer tests to come because there will be no easy games in the Championship this year,” said Rovers coach Daryl Powell.
There had been a sensational start to the game with Featherstone scoring after only thirty seconds. Running strongly down the left hand side Jon Grayshon paved the way for Liam Welham to score in the corner – the first of 13 tries.
Eleven of them were converted – the first two by Kyle Briggs and the other nine by Liam Finn.
Town were just swept aside by the pace, power and control of a Featherstone side who looked impressive in all areas of the field – although, to be fair, they were never seriously tested in defence.
They had a second try disallowed on seven minutes after the ball struck the bar from a chip through and Stuart Dicken was ruled offside when he gathered and powered over.
But on 13 minutes Papua New Guinea international centre Jesse-Joe Parker had a simple walk-in when the ball was moved quickly out wide after Tommy Saxton had been stopped on the line.
It looked ominous when Rovers scored two more tries inside three minutes. First it was the powerful Grayshon, a tall, mobile second row forward who burst through and carried two tacklers over the line with him and then Parker grabbed his second, slicing through some weak tackling in the Town 22.
Simple, accurate and slick passing along the line enabled Saxton to go in at the corner on 28 minutes and then almost on the hooter Finn’s chip was collected by on-rushing full-back Ian Hardman who scored too easily. Finn’s conversion made it 32-0 at the break.
It was even worse in the second-half as Town leaked a further 42 points.
Normal service was resumed two minutes after the restart when Parker was given a walk in at the corner to complete his hat-trick as Town ran out of defenders, again after the ball had been moved smartly along the line.
Winger Jon Steel raced onto a long pass from Finn on 47 minutes to cross and it became 50-0 after 52 minutes when Saxton came in from his wing and stepped through several weak tackles to get the touchdown.
It had become a question of how many now and in the final quarter Rovers scored four more tries.
Substitute Andy Kain was next to cross on the hour, put away and then having the pace to go round the last defender, full-back Neil Frazer, and score by the posts.
Finn latched onto a pass from prop Iain Morrison to score on 68 minutes and four minutes later Grayshon burst through on a 40 metre run to get his second.
It all mercifully finished after the 75th minute score which allowed Saxton to complete his hat-trick. Finn hoisted a high kick for the corner which was gathered in and fed-out to the winger who sauntered over for the 13th and final try.
Town: Frazer, Backhouse, Beattie, Low, Wilson, L. Finch, Kaighan, McGoff, Marshall, Whitehead, J. Finch, Stack, Campbell. Subs (all used): Coupar, McKenna, Burgess, Robinson.
Featherstone: Hardman, Steel, Parker, Welham, Saxton, Briggs, Finn, Divorty, Kaye, Dickens, Grayshon, Dale, Field. Subs (all used) Tonks, Morrison, Kain, Lee.
Referee: Matthew Thomason
Crowd: 1,215
After conceding a try inside 30 seconds Workington’s remote hopes of pulling-off a shock win had virtually disappeared and Rovers romped to a victory, every bit as emphatic as the scoreline suggests.
Town’s prospects had been boosted by that splendid derby victory over Whitehaven but this was a painful reminder that one swallow doesn’t make a summer and it’s consistency of performance which is going to measure Workington’s season.
Coaches Gary Charlton and Martin Oglanby expected a tough test but were not prepared for the slaughter which ensued.
“I know they are a Championship side, and are going to be one of the top teams in the Division, but that still doesn’t excuse our performance.
“It was impossible to find any positives from the game and we will be looking for the players to put-up their hands and take responsibility,” said Oglanby.
After what happened against Whitehaven, followed by the disappointment in south Wales and the hammering at Featherstone, it must seem like three steps forward and then four backwards for Town.
Late illness and injury set-backs meant Town had to change their starting line-up from the one selected as John Lebbon and Lee Dutton dropped-out, and they went into action without what would have been their starting front-row.
But that doesn’t excuse some of the powder-puff tackling and lack of ideas with the ball in hand. Although Featherstone dominated territory and possession for long periods, Town rarely threatened the Rovers line.
There were two, all too brief, moments when Town might have fashioned something positive. Both stemmed from Jamie Marshall breaks but first Scott Kaighan and then Scott Burgess were nailed n the Featherstone 22.
Rovers had beaten Hunslet 68-0 on Thursday in a Northern Rail Cup-tie and simply continued where they left off against Town.
“We had studied Workington and saw areas where we thought we could hurt them. I have to say our guys are playing with a lot of confidence, scoring tries for fun and the fact that we haven’t conceded a point in our last two games is encouraging.
“But we are well aware there will be a lot stiffer tests to come because there will be no easy games in the Championship this year,” said Rovers coach Daryl Powell.
There had been a sensational start to the game with Featherstone scoring after only thirty seconds. Running strongly down the left hand side Jon Grayshon paved the way for Liam Welham to score in the corner – the first of 13 tries.
Eleven of them were converted – the first two by Kyle Briggs and the other nine by Liam Finn.
Town were just swept aside by the pace, power and control of a Featherstone side who looked impressive in all areas of the field – although, to be fair, they were never seriously tested in defence.
They had a second try disallowed on seven minutes after the ball struck the bar from a chip through and Stuart Dicken was ruled offside when he gathered and powered over.
But on 13 minutes Papua New Guinea international centre Jesse-Joe Parker had a simple walk-in when the ball was moved quickly out wide after Tommy Saxton had been stopped on the line.
It looked ominous when Rovers scored two more tries inside three minutes. First it was the powerful Grayshon, a tall, mobile second row forward who burst through and carried two tacklers over the line with him and then Parker grabbed his second, slicing through some weak tackling in the Town 22.
Simple, accurate and slick passing along the line enabled Saxton to go in at the corner on 28 minutes and then almost on the hooter Finn’s chip was collected by on-rushing full-back Ian Hardman who scored too easily. Finn’s conversion made it 32-0 at the break.
It was even worse in the second-half as Town leaked a further 42 points.
Normal service was resumed two minutes after the restart when Parker was given a walk in at the corner to complete his hat-trick as Town ran out of defenders, again after the ball had been moved smartly along the line.
Winger Jon Steel raced onto a long pass from Finn on 47 minutes to cross and it became 50-0 after 52 minutes when Saxton came in from his wing and stepped through several weak tackles to get the touchdown.
It had become a question of how many now and in the final quarter Rovers scored four more tries.
Substitute Andy Kain was next to cross on the hour, put away and then having the pace to go round the last defender, full-back Neil Frazer, and score by the posts.
Finn latched onto a pass from prop Iain Morrison to score on 68 minutes and four minutes later Grayshon burst through on a 40 metre run to get his second.
It all mercifully finished after the 75th minute score which allowed Saxton to complete his hat-trick. Finn hoisted a high kick for the corner which was gathered in and fed-out to the winger who sauntered over for the 13th and final try.
Town: Frazer, Backhouse, Beattie, Low, Wilson, L. Finch, Kaighan, McGoff, Marshall, Whitehead, J. Finch, Stack, Campbell. Subs (all used): Coupar, McKenna, Burgess, Robinson.
Featherstone: Hardman, Steel, Parker, Welham, Saxton, Briggs, Finn, Divorty, Kaye, Dickens, Grayshon, Dale, Field. Subs (all used) Tonks, Morrison, Kain, Lee.
Referee: Matthew Thomason
Crowd: 1,215
