Rugby League: Five-try Rovers find it tough

Featherstone Rovers 28 Widnes 12

WIDNES DID not quite have the energy in the bank to hold out against a fresher Featherstone Rovers in an intriguing tussle between two of the Northern Ford Premiership's more ambitious contenders.

Two converted tries in the final two minutes made Featherstone's victory look clear-cut, but it had been a very different match in the first half.

If Featherstone thought that Widnes might be jaded from the start after acquitting themselves well for an hour against Leeds in the Silk Cut Challenge Cup quarter-finals on Sunday, they were soon disabused.

Within the first five minutes, Steve Argent had split them through the middle and Hitro Okesene prevented a quick play-the-ball at the expense of a sin-binning and a penalty, kicked by Mark Hewitt.

Three minutes later, Paul Manson's clever inside pass released Fabien Devecchi and, before Rovers could get over that, some dazzling ball handling ended with Jason Critchley going over on the right, Hewitt landing his second goal for a 12-point lead before Okesene's return.

Featherstone did not start to recover their composure until midway through the half but then began the long climb back, Steve Dooler slipping through for their first try and their captain, Carl Hall, bouncing out of a series of tackles for their second.

Richard Chapman missed both conversions, but a penalty narrowed the margin to a precarious two points at half-time.

Richard Slater took Rovers into the lead for the first time on the hour when he found a way through a Widnes defence that was starting to look tired.

That and a conversion from Chapman, who later went to the sin-bin with Jim Cassidy after a flare-up, would have been enough.

But Neil Lowe managed to battle his way over two minutes from time to make certain of the points and Matt Bramald scooped up a loose ball to inflate the scoreline with the fifth try in injury time.

Featherstone Rovers: Bramald; Stokes, Hall, Law, Simonds; Coventry, Handley; Okesene, Chapman, Dickens, Tuuta, Dooler, Slater. Substitutes used: Horsley, Amone, Evans, Lowe.

Widnes: Briers; Smith, Critchley, Mansson, Munro; Devecchi, Hewitt; Hansen, Cantillon, Argent, Mann, Savelio, Cassidy.

Substitutes used: Hunter, Eyres.

Referee: G Shaw (Wigan).