Featherstone Rovers 16 Sheffield Eagles 20: Awards snub fuels Eagles’ shock win against Rovers

Just as in 1998, the South Yorkshire club were massive underdogs in this Championship Grand Final against Featherstone Rovers but all the same characteristics were there – indefatigable spirit, inspiring defence and a quality kicking game which left their opponents in pieces.

Relentless Sheffield, who were thrashed 40-4 by the same opponents in last season’s final, simply never relinquished their grip on Daryl Powell’s side.

Defending champions Featherstone may have finished top for a third year running but for a second time in that period they have now crucially fallen at the last hurdle.

Heroic Sheffield won this in unprecedented fashion from fourth place but it shouldn’t be a surprise given the true scale of their journey.

Less than 12 months after causing the biggest shock in rugby league history, they had been merged in ill-fated style with Huddersfield. They folded and started again from scratch in 1999 but have been absent from Super League ever since.

Hard-working coach Mark Aston – Lance Todd Trophy winner against Wigan – has helped hold the club together ever since and admitted: “It makes the last 13 years all worthwhile.

“Does it rank with anything else we’ve done? Well, yes, as back then there was potentially nothing.

“Now we’re ranked as probably the best team in this comp’ this year.

“There’s a lot of people to mention – the chairman and directors – but I take my hat off to this group of players.

“There’s lots of reasons we felt we’d win; we didn’t feel we got recognition in the Championship awards as we didn’t receive one nomination there while only one player made the Championship All Star Team.

“That motivated our players and they were first class today. Outstanding.

“We’re elated and it’s a great achievement.

“With the grit we have and the composure too I knew we’d get through to the final whistle.

“Back in ‘98 with (Dale) Laughton, (Paul) Broadbent, (Keith) Senior and all those guys, people couldn’t believe what we had.

“But we’ve got it again – that mojo, that togetherness, that spirit – and it is key in any sport.”

Any fears Sheffield would be blown away in the same ruthless manner as 12 months ago were quickly assuaged.

This time, they started brightly and were unlucky not to score as early as the fourth minute when Ian Hardman made a hash of Simon Brown’s high kick and Alex Szostak dived over.

Video referee Steve Ganson over-ruled it for offside but the Eagles had posted their warning and, with their next real attack, they did inflict some tangible damage.

Bruising Papuan centre Menzi Yere shrugged off Featherstone’s defence long enough to get his hands clear and his winger Scott Turner rounded off.

A series of unforced errors from Aston’s side, though, soon invited Featherstone back in.

Misi Taulapapa lost possession coming out of his own 30m and, from that gift, Liam Finn combined with Andy Kain whose perfectly-timed inside ball saw full-back Hardman surge over.

Finn converted and added a penalty when Szostak went high on Greg Worthington to hand Finn another two points.

It was perhaps a sign of Featherstone’s respect for Sheffield, though, that they took that conservative option.

Their opponents duly showed what they were capable of when the Eagles regained the lead just after the half-hour mark courtesy of a splendid long-range try.

Typically, it was instigated by the marauding Yere. He found a supporting Turner up the middle who was flattened by Hardman but not before squeezing his own pass out to Quentin Laula-Togagae who raced in from 40m.

It was the 21st try of the full-back’s campaign which offered Brown a simple conversion to make it 10-8 but Featherstone levelled early in the second period when Liam Higgins collared Kain with a high shot and Finn accepted the two points.

Powell suffered every coach’s nightmare though when Dom Maloney coughed up the ball in the re-start set which allowed Sheffield to hit straight back, Brown’s grubber causing all sorts of chaos with substitute forward Dane McDonald diving on the loose ball to score.

Brown could not add the extras which meant Featherstone took the lead once more when Jonny Hepworth showed great awareness to dummy and burst through some flat-footed Sheffield defence under their posts in the 51st minute.

Finn converted but, again, Featherstone made a hash of the kick-off

Kain dropped it and, though they successfully defended three sets on their own line they eventually succumbed after Maloney hit Turner high.

Dominic Brambani lofted a perfect kick to the corner where Taulapapa spectacularly finished for Brown to make it 20-16.

From thereon in, Powell’s side looked lost and disjointed. They failed to create any real chances and seemed bereft of ideas, crucially, when they needed them most.

His team have failed to beat Sheffield in all three meetings this year and this was a painful ending to their campaign having also lost the Northern Rail Cup final to Halifax.

“I cant argue too much with it,” admitted the ex-Great Britain star, who was Eagles’ first-ever signing back in 1983.

“I thought Sheffield were excellent. They played the conditions better than us and we couldn’t really get out of our own half in the second period.

“It’s a massive disappointment. We need to start winning finals consistently.

“We’re getting to them consistently – that’s four in the last three years – but we’ve only won one which is obviously a disappointing statistic.”

Featherstone: Hardman; Ropati, Chappell, Worthington, Saxton; Kain, Finn; England, Kaye, Lockwood, Dale, Spears, Briggs. Substitutes: Hepworth, Bostock, Maloney, Dickens.

Sheffield: Laula-Togagae; Taulapapa, Straughier, Yere, Turner; Brown, Brambani; Howieson, Henderson, Stringer, Knowles, Scott, Szostak. Substitutes: Davey, McDonald, Green, Higgins.