Poor middle section is costly for Doncaster

Doncaster started and finished strongly but it was not enough as Featherstone ran in five tries to halt their recent slide.

Doncaster began in confident fashion and were the better side in the first quarter after centre Dan Cowling had given them an eighth-minute lead, crossing over following a slick move with Paul Cooke tagging on the points.

Featherstone were fortunate not to go further behind when Kyle Kesik and Brett Waller both crossed over on their backs.

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But poor defence allowed them back in when Greg Worthington evaded a couple of weak tackles to touch down, enabling Liam Finn to level the scores.

Tim Spears gave Rovers the lead four minutes later when he forced his way over. An excellent passing move led to Tommy Saxton going over in the corner in the 37th minute with Cooke’spenalty leaving the home side trailing 18-8 at the break.

Centre Lamont Bryan wrapped up the points for Featherstone in the 63rd minute after Saxton had gone over for his second.

Doncaster full-back Mick Butterfield touched down in the 68th minute but it was not enough.

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Doncaster: Butterfield, Tuffour, Cowling, Waterman, Blackmore, Cooke, Wilde, Waller, Kesik, Scott, Kelly, Spurr, Trout. Substitutes (all used): Emmett, Broughton, Leaf, Johnson.

Featherstone Rovers: Wardman, Hodson, Bryan, Worthington, Saxton, Kain, Finn, England, Ellis, Crossley, Lockwood, Spears, Dale. Substitutes (all used): James, Bostock, Hepworth, Kaye.

Referee: M Thomason (RFL).

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