Blackpool Panthers 16 Featherstone Rovers 23 Anybody turning up today expecting to see the feast of rugby we enjoyed last week was destined to be sadly disappointed. The monsoon conditions immediately prior to kick off and the subsequent handling meant that the first half was one best forgotten. It started well enough when a poor kick out by Blackpool which sailed into touch on the full gave Rovers good field position. Eventually the ball was spread out to Wayne McHugh who broke the first line of defence before giving a good inside ball To be fair much of the next 20 minutes saw Rovers doing far too much defending as incomplete sets by us and good kicking by Blackpool pinned us into our own 40. Subsequently nothing to report for either team. The second quarter was the reverse of this as now Blackpool were finding great difficulty in clearing their line including defending back to back sets when a chip towards Wayne McHugh in the corner meant that Blackpool had to drop out under the sticks. The break through finally came when a kick through on the fifth by Tiger bounced back off the defender. Mr Halloran signalled that it was still last tackle so Jamie Field in the centre of the line placed a measured kick into the hands of Waine Pryce on the wing for an unconverted score in the corner. With the score at 10-0, the half time whistle heralded an improvement in the weather and hopefully in the rugby. Things started well. Soon after Rovers kicked off, Tommy Haughey stole the ball in a one on one. The resulting plays gave Rovers first one penalty and then, immediately on the first play, another, for offside in front of the sticks. On both occasions they declined the offer of 2 points and decided to run the ball, a decision they would quickly regret as Casey Mayberry swooped on a dropped ball to race 90 metres up the right wing before cutting in and scoring under the sticks. An easy kick for Johnny Leather and suddenly a possible score of 12-0 became 10-6. The next score again started with a penalty for offside by the tiring Blackpool defence. Once again, from a position wider out this time, the decision was to run the ball, first to the right and then back to the left where a good ball by Joe Rovers were now finally starting to play more expansive rugby and creating more gaps, but it was Blackpool who were to get the next points on the board. A move along the Rovers 20 from left to right seemed to have died when the final pass went to ground but it bounced up into the hands of winger David Kirby who scored in the corner. With the attempted conversion hardly leaving the floor the lead was once again cut to 4 points.
Into the last quarter and Blackpool were finding it increasingly difficult to clear out of their 40 on five tackles and the subsequent kicks were being well run back by Tommy Saxton and Wayne McHugh. It needed a penalty for a flop to give Blackpool possession in the Rovers half and they very nearly converted this into points when a fifth tackle kick to the corner found Waine Pryce surrounded by three attacking players. Thankfully the ball was knocked on giving Rovers a tap on the 20m line. Rovers came well off their line and in four tackles had reached the opposition 20 but one tackle later Tiger decided nothing was on, so popped over a drop goal to extend the lead to two scores. Rovers went further ahead in the 74 th minute with possibly the high spot of the Blackpool though were to have the final say. Once again they outflanked the Rovers defence on their right for substitute Eddy Kilgallon to score in the corner and another excellent kick by Johnny Leather closed the scoring. A win for Featherstone which was a lot harder to achieve than most fans expected.
Half Time 0-10 Referee Mr C Halloran Scoring sequence 0-6, 0-10, 6-10, 6-14, 10-14, 10-16, 10-17, 10-23, 16-23 Game breaker: Sean Heskeths run down the left centre paving the way for the try that finally made the tie safe. Crowd 302 © 2008 Stuart Lonsdale Any comments (constructive criticism welcomed) or volunteers please email webmaster@featherstonerovers.net
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for Andy Kain to cross for a try which Stuart converted. Andy was not to take much more part in the game as he limped off in the sixth minute to be replaced by Carl Hughes. Tiger went to standoff, Joe came out of the pack to scrum half and Carl packed down at number 9. 
McLocklan found Tommy Saxton coming at pace to brush through the defence and score. Stuart hit the post with the conversion so the lead was kept at 8 points. 
An intelligent kick off by Tiger bounced into touch to give Rovers head and feed, and as the ball was spread to Joe McLocklan he was felled with a high tackle in front of the sticks. This time the 2 points were taken stretching the lead to 6 points. 
game. The move started with a tremendous 60m run by Sean Hesketh swatting tacklers of like flies. He was eventually tackled but was held down. From the resulting penalty Rovers drove into the 20 and when Carl Hughes was held up over the line and the play the ball was pulled back to the 10m line, the ball was spread left where Wayne McHugh stormed through to score. An excellent kick from the touchline by Stuart and the score was now 23-10 and the tie finally looked safe. 
