Rovers send their coach on his way with victory over Bulldogs

Powell confirmed afterwards that he would be leaving Featherstone, but refused to comment on speculation linking him to the vacant Castleford job.

His side opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Will Sharp showed blistering pace and power to dive over in the corner.

The home side cancelled out Sharp’s try when Ben Black’s grubber kick hit the bottom of the post and landed at his own feet. He was able to go over under the sticks to give Gareth Moore the easy job of levelling the scores.

With less than a minute left in the first half, Moore successfully kicked a penalty from 38 metres to give the home side an 8-6 half-time lead.

Featherstone got back in front just eight minutes into the second half when Mariano bundled his way over in the corner, and a Tim Spears try saw them extend their lead even further to 16-8 with 15 minutes remaining.

Johnny Campbell had a try disallowed after 70 minutes, before a fine finish in the left corner from Greg Johnson saw the home side hit back to cut Rovers’ lead to 16-12.

With 30 seconds remaining, Batley had head and feed of a scrum on Featherstone’s 30 metre line.

They lost the ball on the second tackle, however, blowing their chances of snatching a win.

Batley Bulldogs: Campbell, G. Potts, Walton, Faal, G. Johnson, Black, Moore, Smith, Flanagan, Rowe, Bretherton, L. Walmsley, Fairbank. Substitutes: Mennell, Hirst, J. Johnson, Lindsey.

Featherstone Rovers: Hardman, Hodson, Hepworth, Sharp, Saxton, Kain, Finn, England, Ellis, Crossley, Lockwood, Spears, M. Dale. Substitutes: Bostock, Mariano, Bussey, Bryan.

Referee: C Leatherbarrow (RFL).