Panthers force Rovers to fight back in gritty sequel
THEY SAY sequels never live up to expectations but that certainly wasn’t the case at the Millennium Stadium as Featherstone Rovers backed-up last week’s cup win over Halifax Panthers with a 22-12 comeback victory in the Championship.
Halifax threatened to become just the second team since September 2019 to win away at Featherstone after going 12-4 in front.
But Rovers scored three tries in the final 20 minutes to maintain their unbeaten start.
Following a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Halifax eventually stunned the rowdy crowd into silence as Louis Jouffret powered over the whitewash.
The Frenchman grounded the ball in the corner as his side took a 6-0 lead courtesy of a successful Joe Keyes conversion.
This season, the Panthers have made a habit of conceding tries moments after scoring. Simon Grix’s side were clearly intent on avoiding a similar predicament but could only manage to keep the hosts at bay for the next 10 minutes as inevitably, Brian McDermott’s men found a way through.
Gareth Gale was the man to put Rovers on the scoreboard when he dived over in the corner after receiving a looping pass from Matty Wilde.
Halifax became the first team this season to lead Featherstone at the half-way point and shortly after the restart, Halifax extended their advantage to eight points as Cory Aston powered over the tryline. The former Rovers player was on the end of a quick offload before crashing over and Keyes made it 12-4 with a second successful kick.
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts just 60 seconds later when Wildie was sent to the sin bin for a late hit on Ben Kavanagh.
But despite the man advantage, Halifax failed to add more points on the scoreboard.
Instead, it was Featherstone who found their second wind and began to make in roads, starting with a fortunate effort for Morgan Smith.
With Rovers parked on the Halifax tryline, Smith produced a quick grubber kick into the goalline area. The bounce of the ball appeared to take Jouffret by surprise and he failed to clear the danger, allowing Smith to jump on the loose ball and move the hosts within four points.
Halifax almost came up with a moment of magic as Jouffret broke down the left. However, just as the Panthers seemed destined to score, the full-back pulled up with a hamstring injury which forced him to give the ball to Walmsley.
The player was outnumbered down the wing and the move eventually came to nothing.
Featherstone could sense the tide turning and they took full advantage as Craig Hall crossed for a self-converted try that put his men ahead for the first time.
The 34-year-old wasn’t done there and he added eight more points in the final five minutes to seal victory.