Salford Reds 42 Featherstone Rovers 12 With the bookmakers willing to give Featherstone a 26 point start they obviously didn't hold out much hope for their chances of achieving a shock result. The traveling fans, boosted by the display against Whitehaven, came, if not in expectation, at least with the hope that Rovers would acquit themselves well. 80 minutes later the fans would have to agree that the bookies had it right although at one stage it seemed as if things would be far far worse and certainly in the second half Rovers did acquit themselves well. Rovers had a horrendous start when Salford's first kick through was knocked on giving the Reds six tackles inside the Rovers 10m. In fact they didn't need six tackles. On the third tackle as a dummy runner appeared to take out two defenders, Turner the Salford loose forward came through behind him to score a try which Ballard failed to convert. Only 7 minutes passed when Salford second row forward, and man of the match, Ian Sibbit, burst through some weak tackling in the middle of the field. Loz Wildbore brought him down well as he released the ball to his support. Even then the retreating defenders were able to prevent the score, but this was only putting off the inevitable as a quick play-the-ball, passed to the left saw Pryce facing four attackers and the second try was scored by Mat Gardner. Converted by Andy Ballard. Rovers were finding it difficult to get any possession at this stage as once again Salford were down in the Rovers 20. A kick to the corner saw Pryce leaping with two of the Reds and knock on under the pressure. From the scrum Rovers conceded possibly the worst try of the game as Stefan Ratchford picked up from the base of the scrum and went over through a 5 metre gap to score under the sticks. Once again converted by Ballard and Rovers were still getting off the bus with the score 16-0 after 11 minutes. Rovers now started to get a little bit more of the ball and a break by Andy Kain Things had to improve and they did. Rovers started keeping the ball alive well and looked much better. Unfortunately a pass that went to ground gave Salford a full set in the Rovers 20 and once again they powered through some poor tackling to score another converted try. To be fair it was obvious at ground level the difference in size between the two teams and certainly Leuluai, for one, was pulling in three and four tacklers before going to ground. The prop Craig Stapleton and the two second rowers, Sibbit and Brocklehurst, were also making inroads into the Rovers defence.
The Rovers defence held out a couple of scares to keep the score at 28-6 for half time. The second half saw a much improved Rovers effort. They saw much more of the ball, gained good ground, and threatened the Salford line on a number of occasions. Once again though it was Salford who were to score first after a good Rovers set of 6. Tiger kicked over the line and when the Salford winger slipped it looked as though something might come from it. He recovered the ball though and when Rovers were then penalised for 'lying on' the Reds worked their way up the field. A kick on the fifth bounced away from Waine Pryce who failed to ground it and Ballard raced in from the right to drop on the ball. No conversion this time. When Lueluai tried to keep the ball alive Rovers were able to intercept the ball and once again had six in the Salford 20. A wasted six though as, on the second tackle, a misunderstanding meant that the ball hit Richard Blakeway who was going through as a dummy runner. This and a penalty once again for 'lying on' put the Rovers on the back foot coming off their line to defend another Salford attack. This they did well. The next Salford set they were pulled for crossing in midfield. From the resulting penalty a great break by Andy Kain was well supported by Paul Handforth who was able to score under the sticks. With Stuart off the field Tiger, once again, converted his own score. Rovers were playing much more attacking rugby now and when Salford were A clever kick off saw Richard Blakeway retrieve the ball and set up another attacking set. This came Once again Rovers were nearly undone by the speed of the 20 tap and as the Reds raced up field Sean Hesketh was sin-binned for holding down. To be fair the Rovers tackled well with 12 men and it was unlucky when an excellent chip over the top on the last, dropped into the hands of winger Paul White whose try was converted. There were 16 points scored in the first 18 minutes and none in the last. This was not down to chance as the second half produced a much better Rovers performance. On the back of a good set, Andy Kain crossed, to drop on a kick through by Tiger, but Mr Dawber ruled he had knocked on. Soon after this though came possibly the best move of the game. The ball must have gone quickly through 13 pairs of hands as it flashed across the field and it looked as though Salford had scored again until the last pass was adjudged to be forward. Rovers were spending an increasing amount of time in the Salford 40 with completed sets. On possibly the last of these a grubber through by Tiger was touched down by Loz Wildbore but once again Mr Dawber disallowed the try. It would have been an interesting one for a video ref. The hooter went soon afterwards to close a well earned victory for Salford. What do Rovers take out of the game. Accepting the superior speed and size of the opposition, there were still some howling errors in defence but on the occasions when the defence tightened up, Rovers showed they had the skill to worry even the Reds.
Half Time 28 - 6 Referee Mr M Dawber Scoring sequence 4-0, 10-0, 16-0, 22-0, 28-0, 28-6, 32-6, 32-12, 36-12,42-12 Game breaker: The first 11 minutes when Rovers shipped in 16 unanswered points and although they recovered, they were chasing the game from then on. Crowd 5139 © 2008 Stuart Lonsdale Any comments (constructive criticism welcomed) or volunteers please email webmaster@featherstonerovers.net
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through the Salford line could have lead to more if the support had been there quicker. Salford were next to score though. As Tommy Haughey drove in he was hit hard, knocking the ball loose. Gardner swooped on the ball to go 50 metres and score under the sticks. The conversion was a formality and with little more than a quarter of the game gone Rovers were 22 nil down. What made this even worse was that Tommy stayed down for a long time after this hit and eventually was assisted off the field. 
Finally something for the traveling fans. A period of sustained Rovers pressure led to the first of the two Rovers tries. A jinking run by Tiger led to a try under the sticks which he converted himself. 
penalised for off-side, they had more good possession. A very good set lead to a kick to the corner on the fifth tackle where Waine Pryce leapt higher than the defenders but was unable to hold onto the ball. Once again though, Salford scored against the play as the tap on the 20 and some woeful tackling lead to a three to two overlap on the right and the centre Littler dummied and went over for another unconverted try.
to end as Loz was tackled inches short of the line and his attempted pass back hit the supporting player's shin and went dead. 
