64-18
It’s
a scoreline that has been deeply etched in our memory for many years! Got home after the match
against Workington and went straight to check any other matches, apart from the previous one we remembered, with the same scoreline but there are just the two.
Fev
treated us to some scintillating attacking rugby none more so than the first try
that was scored by Morgan Smith when there were a succession of brilliant
passes in the build up and one of sheer genius from Craig Hall to Morgan Smith that
had us jumping out of our seat and shrieking in pure delight at what we had
just witnessed.
Sadly,
yet again, there were also the defensive frailties, indicated by the fact that,
in league matches, Workington have only scored more than 18 points twice this
year. Those were against Broncos before their resurgence and Newcastle in a
22-66 defeat.
So, what was that other time when Fev won 64-18. It was probably the most memorable
Fev match we ever had the pleasure to attend. We have to go back to 1991 and the
second round of the Regal Trophy. Fev were drawn at home to Halifax in an
evening game that was televised by ITV.
The
first half was tight with Fev edging it 14-12 but the omens were poor because
we had Andy Fisher sent off in the 30th minute for a high tackle.
When Halifax took an 18-16 lead in the 50th minute there were very
few in the crowd who believed anything other than that Fax would win.
We
will never forget what happened in the last 30 minutes! Fev scored 48 points to
end up winning 64-18 with the most thrilling half hour any of us there had ever
witnessed.
If
you are too young to remember it, just weren’t there or want to relive it we
are delighted to tell you that you can watch it on RoversTV where you will find
it in the ‘Gold’ section. If you can, watch it on a television rather than on a
phone or computer.
1,000
points in a season
Last
Sunday Fev went past 1,000 points in league matches, only the second time
that has been done. The previous occasion was just 4 years ago in 2018.
There
have been a total of 14 previous seasons when Fev have passed a 1,000 points in
all games. Unsurprisingly 13 of those have been in the ‘Summer Era’ during
which there has been a very large general increase in scores.
The
one season before the Summer Era when we achieved more than 1,000 points was
1992-93. At the end of 1991-92 we had been relegated to the second division and
we bounced back at the first opportunity scoring loads of points, not least due
to the contributions of Paul Newlove and Owen Simpson who scored 48 and 34
tries respectively and Martin Pearson who scored 391 points (28 tries, 139
goals and 1 drop goal). Those try scoring feats of Newlove and Simpson remain the
two highest number of tries ever in a season for Rovers.
This
year we currently stand at 1,006 points in league matches and 1,165 points in
all matches. Our record tally ever for league matches is 1,040 and for all
matches is 1,253 so, with potentially 4 matches to go, there is a chance that
either of those records could be broken.
Connor Jones
Over the years Fev have been blessed with a host of
excellent hookers hookers: Keith Bridges, Trevor Clark, Richard Chapman and Andy
Ellis to name just four.
Comparisons are difficult to make because the role and skills required have changed more than any other position on the field.
Connor Jones performance last weekend against Workington stands out as one of the very finest in any match we can recall. We can’t recall any previous hooker who has such a devastating quality of rugby league intelligence combined with such devastating pace and acceleration.
The news that he has resigned for next season must be a huge satisfaction for all Fev supporters.
Milestones
There were two significant player milestones achieved during the Workington match.
Luke Briscoe played his 100th game for Fev and Craig Hall scored his 50th try for us. In addition, Morgan Smith scored his 25th career try.
Congratulations to all three of them.
Wigan
For fevnut, our feelings about the Wigan club are on a par with our feelings about Cas! That all stems from when Wigan decided unilaterally to make their players fulltime and in so doing we felt they did enormous damage to our sport. That was compounded when we received an appalling phone call from Maurice Lindsay threatening to expel Wakefield Trinity from the RFL if Wakefield Council allowed Belle Vue to be used for a BARLA Cup Final. Wakefield Council were, at that time, the owners of the ground.
But did you, by any chance watch last week’s match between Saints and Wigan. It was probably the greatest defensive display we have ever seen. Saints completely dominated territory and possession and yet Wigan managed to conjure a 30-10 win. Of course, having Jai Field and Bevan French in their team helps but we would love to have our players go through some defensive training from the Wigan staff!
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