Featherstone Rovers 24 Doncaster 36: Featherstone stunned as Cooke inspires Dons to seven-try win

They avenged a 28-12 home defeat against Rovers two months ago by scoring three tries in the last six minutes.

Doncaster coach Tony Miller said: “I am proud of our players and we thoroughly deserved to win by 12 points. We didn’t just scrape over the line, we finished the game magnificently. It was probably our best win for a long time.”

Doncaster were 12-0 up in as many minutes.

Paul Cooke sent in Lee Waterman and Carl Hughes then scooped up a loose ball to score a 40-yard try.

Featherstone levelled with two tries in three minutes.

Rovers’ Will Sharp darted over from 30 yards out before substitute Andy Bostock scored with his first touch by forcing his way over from acting half close to the line.

Rovers then fell behind again when Craig Fawcett’s clever pass made the opening for half-back partner Cooke to cross and Stu Sanderson kicked his third goal.

Four minutes later, Featherstone made it 18-18 when Matty Dale capitalised on a superbly-judged kick by Finn, who added his third goal.

Doncaster regained the lead six minutes into the second-half with a solo 25-yard effort by Liam Kay but Rovers squared matters again when Finn sent James Lockwood charging through a huge gap to score.

Finn’s 68th-minute penalty nosed Featherstone ahead for the first time but Doncaster finished the stronger side.

Sanderson grabbed two tries before they sealed their third win in four matches when Brett Waller crashed over and Sanderson kicked his fourth goal.

It was Featherstone’s first defeat in seven league games and a huge setback to their hopes of lifting the league leaders’ shield for a fourth successive season.

Rovers interim head coach Ryan Sheridan said: “We started the game sloppily and we finished it sloppily. Doncaster played well and we were just not good enough.”

Featherstone Rovers: Hardman; Sharp, Mellars, Worthington, Saxton; Kain, Finn; Crossley, Kaye, James, Lockwood, Bussey, Dale. Substitutes: Ellis, Hellewell, Bryan, Bostock.

Doncaster: Waterman; Tuffour, Cowling, Kay, Sanderson; Cooke, Fawcett; Waller, Emmett, Trout, Kelly, Spurr, Hughes. Substitutes: Powley, Carbutt, Castle, Leaf.

Referee: J Cobb (Leigh).