Gareth is a top rugby league journalist who has one very exceptional distinction. He chooses to write about matters pertaining to the Championship and League One.
Although this blog is devoted to Featherstone Rovers it is always good to read opinions about matters relevant to us, but not specifically about us. We hope you enjoy reading Gareth's column each week.
All to play for
THE Qualifiers are now firmly underway, and
the four Championship clubs involved are playing their full part in the action
so far.
Hull
Kingston Rovers shook the competition up last weekend with their gritty 20-16
win at Super League Leigh.
It
wasn’t without controversy - both coaches
commented on the messy play-the-ball that led to Shaun Lunt’s winning try, with
Tim Sheens admitting his side “got lucky” on that front.
But
overall the Robins deserved their win, defending superbly for long periods to
triumph at Leigh Sports Village for the second time this season.
Sheens’
focus is now on the coming weeks - with Championship rivals London and
Featherstone their next two opponents.
Sheens
said: “We’ve got one more game left before the break
for the cup and it’s
important we don’t
waste this now.
“We
need to come out strongly next week and London at home is going to be a tough
game again.
“We’ll enjoy the
moment but in 24 hours’ time
we’ve
got to get our heads down and focus on next week.”
The
Broncos come into the game after a thrilling 26-26 draw with Featherstone,
Rovers centre Chris Ulugia scoring a late try and Ian Hardman holding his nerve
to convert from the touchline.
“It’s
a tough one, but it shows the close nature of this competition, it is so evenly
matched,” coach Andrew Henderson reflected afterwards.
“We’re
disappointed but you’ve got to credit Featherstone for the way they stuck with
us.”
The
final Championship team Halifax produced a gutsy display against Widnes before
going down 36-12 at the Shay.
Part-time
Fax trailed 26-0 at one point and looked to be heading for a heavy defeat.
But
they regrouped superbly, closing the gap to 14 points and missing three clear
cut chances before the Vikings closed out the win with two tries of their own.
Coach
Richard Marshall said: “We missed three
opportunities in the second half and in the Championship we probably get away
with that - but we’ll learn from it.”
Now
they face the toughest trip in the competition in travelling to Warrington,
while Hull KR host London in a crucial clash for both teams and Featherstone
travel to Widnes.
The
Qualifiers continue to produce excitement and tension in bucketfuls - and the
Championship clubs are again contributing significantly to that.
No comments:
Post a Comment