» April 8th 2001
» Town 4 : 24 Featherstone Rovers

Town were in contention for most of the game and dominated the first 20 minutes of the second half before a wayward Town pass gifted Featherstone with a scoring opportunity. Once they regained the advantage Featherstone controlled the last 20 minutes of the game running in a further two tries without reply to give the scoreline a wider winning margin.

Town started well and were awarded a penalty in the first minute for a high tackle on Jamie Beaumont. Tane Manihera and Matt Sturm linked well to create the space and Town was able to unleash testing kicks at the Featherstone defence.

When Featherstone had the ball they kicked early in the tackle count trying to turn the Town defence and hoping to catch the fullback and wingers out of position.

From one of these kicks in the sixth minute, the ball went out on the full and Town had possession. The forwards used this well to make the yards before the defence collected Lynton Stott's kick. Featherstone made good yards with the ball and when Manihera was penalised for a high tackle Featherstone well able to gain easy advantage deep into the Town half.

Deep in the Town half with a full set of six, Featherstone were able to throw the ball about and tested the Town defence. They swung the ball wide and passed the ball through several pairs of hands, drew in the defence, created an overlap out wide and the winger Matt Bramald was able to go in at the corner unchallenged. Jamie Rooney missed with the conversion attempt from the touchline.

Town continued to press and on several occasions were well inside their opponents half, but the Featherstone defence dealt with kicks from Manihera and Stott.

On 13 minutes the Town defence was again tested. Good handling by Featherstone created the gap out wide, but Graeme Lewthwaite was aware and made a great tackle producing a knock-on from the attacking player. From the scrum Town made good yards and a bursting run from Beaumont was only halted after he lost his footing. Hitro Okesene lost the ball in the next tackle to give Featherstone the scrum on their own 20-metre line.

Both sides continued to test each other with their kicks when they had the possession. On 20 minutes Manihera put through a testing kick and was the only chaser to reach the fullback. A little ankle tap brought down the ball carrier, but there was no covering tackle and the fullback was able to regain his feet and gain precious yards before being tackled.

Town had their best chance of scoring on 22 minutes. They were awarded a scrum on the Featherstone 20-metre line after a knock-on. Good work from Town saw Manihera release Lewthwaite who strode in over the line. It was disallowed for a forward pass.

A penalty in the 26th minute against Town for interference in the tackle allowed Featherstone to create a scoring opportunity. Featherstone passed the ball a long the line and created the gap out wide. The winger had the line at his mercy, but was unable to collect the pass and knocked-on.

On 29 minutes Featherstone extended their lead. The referee missed a suspected forward pass and Danny Evans went in easily out wide. Jamie Rooney missed with the conversion attempt to make the score 8 - 0 in favour of Featherstone.

From the kick-off Town regained the possession after a Featherstone hand knocked on the ball. Neil Frazer and then Matt Sturm carried the ball deep into the Featherstone half. Town lost possession after a wayward pass from Okesene from dummy half was collected by the opposition.

Again, both sides tested each other with searching kicks after good work. Matthew Tunstall and eaumont carrying the ball forward for Town at every opportunity. For Featherstone Rooney and hooker Chapman were marshalling the attack.

On 38 minutes Town were forced to dropout from under the posts after Stott was tackled in-goal after collecting the high kick. With the clock running down, Featherstone ran the ball at the Town line and on the 4th tackle Rooney scored with the drop goal attempt to widen the Featherstone lead to 9 - 0.

Manihera played the kick-off short and Leigh Smith collected the ball and then lost it in the tackle. Smith did not give up and chased the ball and tackled the player into touch. Town had the scrum and with the hooter imminent Manihera launched a high kick on the first tackle, Frazer gave chase, but was beaten to the ball by the Featherstone defence.

The second half saw Town come out with all guns blazing. From the kick-off Town collected the ball and Beaumont made the yards and released Frazer who carried the ball into the opposition half. Good interplay between Manihera and Beaumont drove the Town attack forward. The kick through was knocked on but missed by the referee who looked to his touch judge's indication that the ball had been knocked forward by a foot, much to the disgust of the Town players.

The pressure from Town was non-stop and Featherstone were contained inside their own half and had to use the kicking game to force Town back. When Town had the ball they made good yards, Beaumont and Craig Rumney were both tackled short of the line on separate occasions. While trying to keep the ball alive, Town made several handling errors, which relieved the pressure on the Featherstone defence.

On 53 minutes, Town got the score they deserved. Manihera's bomb was knocked-on just inside the Featherstone half. From the scrum Anthony Samuel made the break and his diagonal run for the corner split the defence and he went in at the corner with 3 men trying to tackle him. Manihera missed with the conversion.

Mistakes and infringements by Featherstone gave Town continuing advantage. The home side were forced to dropout from under the posts after some good play from the Town attack. The ball was run back at the defence and on the last tackle Leigh Smith was unlucky not to score after stretching for the line.

The last 20 minutes saw the game swing in favour of the home team. Lynton Stott collected the kick through and started the attack. Tane Manihera passed to Jamie Beaumont, and to be fair it was not the best of passes, Jamie caught the ball at his shoulder, with tacklers in attendance, he threw the ball back towards the Town line. Unfortunately the Town line was flat and the ball was loose. Matt Bramald was first to react and picked up the ball and sped for the line, going in at the corner. Jamie Rooney was again unsuccessful with the conversion attempt.

Featherstone were now in the driving seat and applied constant pressure. Town were forced to drop out twice. The Town defence was holding, but only just. Then in the 70th minute on the last tackle Richard Chapman broke through the tackle and scored close to the posts. Jamie Rooney converted to extend the lead to 19 - 4.

Jamie Rooney added another drop-goal after 75 minutes, before Matt Bramald completed his hat-trick on 77 minutes after some excellent handling and passing by the Featherstone attack to make the final score 24 - 4.