2 weeks Ago
PAUL Cooke believes Featherstone got what they deserved as they staged a second-half comeback to beat York Knights 24-22 in a thriller at Post Office Road. Joe Brown opened the scoring for the Knights just after the quarter-hour before a Ben Jones-Bishop double handed them a 16-0 half-time lead. But it was a game of two halves as a blistering four tries in 18 minutes swung momentum back Rovers’ way, with Connor Jones, Caleb Aekins, Ryan Hampshire and King Vuniyayawa finding the whitewash to add 24 unanswered points to the board.
York did rally late on, with skipper Liam Harris setting up a grandstand finish with a fine individual try eight minutes from time, but Featherstone clung on for just their second win of the Championship season. It was the hosts' first league success under ex-Knights assistant Cooke, who was delighted to see his side end their barren run. “I thought in the first half, we were second best in every area, and we said that at the break,” the head coach told club media.
“I thought they came out with some real intent that we asked for at the beginning of the game and I thought they delivered that second half. “For the second week running we were the best team on the field. We didn’t quite get the result last week, but I think we got what we deserved today.
“I’m really proud of all the staff, the players and the fans, I’m pleased for them today, the board of directors and everyone at the club. “It’s been a tough, tough, five or six weeks for us and I wasn’t sure how we were going to back up after last week’s disappointment when we lost by two, but I thought the players were magnificent in the second half.” It was their performance from the kicking tee that ultimately cost Featherstone against Oldham last weekend, but Hampshire finished with a 100 per cent record as they found themselves on the right side of a two-point game this time around.
Attacking down the slope in the second half, Cooke was pleased to see his side respond from a below-par first half to break a run of five straight league losses and move themselves up to 10th. “I felt that the first 10 minutes of the first half when we were on top, if we could replicate a bit more of that running down the hill then we would get on top of them,” he explained. “It shouldn’t have to take us until half time to come out with more intent that we asked for.
“For the first half, we were second best in everything, but I’m just really pleased for the players that they came out and put in a performance like that and have managed to climb the ladder a little bit with two more points.”.
