Featherstone Rovers make early statement in Betfred Championship season with big win over promotion rivals Leigh Centurions

Featherstone Rovers made a huge statement just two weeks into the Betfred Championship season by beating fellow promotion-contenders Leigh Centurions 28-6 at the Millennium Stadium. 

Before the campaign got underway, Rovers and the Leythers were the two tipped to battle it out for promotion to the Super League with the latter edging the bookmakers’ odds and Head Coach Brian McDermott publicly saying he would tip Leigh as the ones to beat.

Regardless of what is said off the field before a game, what happens in the 80 minutes on it is what counts and Featherstone ripped apart a hapless-looking Leigh side who will be underwhelmed with their showing to say the least.

Samoan powerhouse Joey Leilua set up Luke Briscoe to score the first try 10 minutes in after a calamitous spell of defence from the visitors which started with Kieran Dixon fumbling the ball and ended with them 6-0 behind early on.

The Leythers were relegated from Super League last season after a poor campaign and have new boss Adrian Lam at the helm with arguably an expectation of promotion in Lancashire.

They started the season positively with a big home win against Whitehaven but found themselves 12-0 down after 20 minutes as they allowed Morgan Smith to get away and cross the try-line without being challenged.

Things went from bad to worse with two quickfire sin-bins for both James McDonnell and Ben Reynolds with frustrations boiling over and the travelling away supporters also discontented with what they were seeing from their team.

McDermott’s side were not going to let the two-man advantage go to waste either and punished Leigh with a trademark Craig Hall try, taking a kick from Dane Chisholm well to ground under very little pressure. Calls for offside were not answered by referee Robert Hicks, though the visitors only had themselves to blame for the scoreline.

Leigh did pile the pressure on towards the end of the first half and seemingly had the ball close to the line for what seemed an eternity without any points forthcoming. Lam’s men looked disorientated when they got within 10 metres and lacked any quality to claw themselves back into the game with Featherstone’s defence firmly on top.

16-0 at half-time and the Leythers’ performance was summed up straight from the restart as the hosts recovered the ball after Leigh had let it bounce.

There were no scores until the 62nd minute, and even then, it came in a terrible fashion from a Leigh perspective.

After Dixon had laid a big hit on an opponent and forced a fumble, Rovers’ John Davies was given the time and space to gather the ball and go to ground over the line without challenge. A nice way for the Featherstone man to mark his 250th career appearance, confirming beyond any doubt that the visitors would leave Yorkshire empty-handed.

Lam’s side did get on the scoresheet eventually. Nene Macdonald crossed the try line with nine minutes remaining having scored a hat-trick on debut against Whitehaven last week. Ben Reynolds converted when given the chance after a poor night with the boot in-play.

Leigh also went close soon after with Dixon failing to gather a pass from Reynolds close to the line just four minutes from time.

Even then, it would be Featherstone who had the last laugh. Rovers crossed again through Brandon Pickersgill with virtually the last action of the contest, wading through the mud-soaked pitch at the Millennium Stadium as Hall added the extras to make it 28-6 come the final hooter.

Some may argue that the conditions played their part in Yorkshire and of course they did but they were the same for both sides. Without any doubt, Featherstone dealt with the pitch better than Leigh managed to, and when the winning margin is 22 points, there are more issues to worry about than the pitch for the losing side.

4,562 were in attendance to see the hotly-anticipated meeting of the Rovers and the Leythers, with many more watching from the comfort of their own homes live on Premier Sports.

Featherstone boss McDermott refused to say his side had made a statement post-match, but most would agree they certainly have as they ran riot against a side who were said to be the favourites for promotion.

There is still a long way to go, but Rovers are in the driving seat of the Betfred Championship now.

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