It was expected that today's game at Post Office Rd would be a close one and it didn't fail to deliver. Fev are a more durable proposition than our previous opponents and amply demonstrated their deternimation to turn round a 16-0 deficit into a lead of 18-16.
But Hornets went off like a rocket. First a last tackle play close to the Rovers' line, Latham Tawhai sucking defenders into the tackle and sneaking the ball out the back door for Andy Ireland to crash in. Woody added the extras. Then just five minutes later, a huge break by Larder was brought to a halt a couple of yards short. A quick play the ball to Brendan O'Meara saw Danny Sculthorpe steaming onto a short pass to score. Woody converted, 12-0. Things got better for Hornets after 25 minutes. A skating diagonal run from Bunyan, his pass found Calland and he found the tryline. Woody missed and at 16-0 Hornets were in complete control.
Maybe this was the problem. Hornets simply, took their minds off the job. With the half ticking down, NIce work by Rooney wide out saw Lowe rash in at the corner. Rooney impressively converted. He added a penalty for a spurious high tackle decision minutes later after Watson had appeared to simply grab Lowe from behind. He lay there and milked it. Fev went in 16-8 down.
The second half started disastrously. Watson misjudged the bounce of the ball from the kick off and scuffed the ball dead in goal. From the drop out Fev worked the ball neatly up the slope and stretched Hornets defence too far for Turner to score. Again Rooney lofted in a touchline conversion and Hornets looked decidedly rocky. With both sides niggling and scrapping in the tackles, Fev kept their shape better as play degenerated. Hornets forced pass after pass when there was no reason to, fumbled and flayed whilst Rovers kept it simple and straight. This tactic served them well as they again worked the ball through the Hornets left centre channel for Bramald to collect four points. This time it was too wide out for Rooney to take advantage.
So, having led 16-0, Hornets found themselves trailing and looking the most likely to throw this one away. But Fev got a bit too cocky looking for more points up the right wing. A looping pass was snaffled by Marlon Billy on his own ten metre line and he out paced the chasing Rovers to give Hornets a lead that they didn't really look like regaining. Woody missed; 18-20 and twenty minutes to play.
In the closing quarter it was a real battle of nerves. Featherstone first taking the ball over the line only to have the ball knocked loose in a great covering tackle by Cooper. Then again - in pretty much the same spot - they had the ball down only to be pulled back for a double movement. Hornets were on the rack and using lifelines by the minute. But somehow they held Rovers at bay. In a rare foray into the Featherstone half, a neat kick by Tawhai saw Robert Hall just failing to dive through. With the game ebbing away, Rovers chose to punt the ball deep on only the second tackle, Cooper gathered under no pressure and Hornets safely played the clock down for a win that had a noisy travelling contingent exhaling with relief.
But these are the games you need to win. Featherstone are no easy-beats and grinding out wins is as essential as racking up the points against lesser teams. But Hornets were decidedly shoddy today - making more mistakes than in the last three or four games. And Featherstone will curse themselves. We really were there for the taking and they didn't have it in them. Peter Roe will not be happy.
We have a week off now to regroup, refresh and remember what wins games. Martin Hall will undoubtedly have plenty to say about today and there's plenty to work on in training. But it's two points - and if someone had offered us a win at Fev at the beginning of the season we'd have been very grateful, thank you. And we are.