Featherstone Rovers warm-up for start of Betfred Championship season with win over Wakefield Trinity

Featherstone Rovers showed again that they look like being a force to be reckoned with in the Championship this year as they followed up their impressive display against Leeds Rhinos with another strong performance and a 22-18 victory in a pre-season game against Wakefield Trinity at the Millennium Stadium.

Craig Hall kicked three goals and scored a try in Featherstone Rovers' 22-18 win over Wakefield Trinity.

For Trinity there is work to be done ahead of the Super League season as coach Willie Poching selected a strong side to take on Featherstone in the final pre-season friendly before the campaign starts for real and they were given a proper test.

Rovers started brightly and soon had an extra man with Liam Hood sin-binned, taking advantage to put the first points on the board as Josh Hardcastle went over for a try after a line break from Luke Briscoe.

Wakefield hit back as a mix-up in the Featherstone defence led to Tom Lineham charging down field and the ball being moved wide for Tom Johnstone to dive over in the corner.

Max Jowitt's conversion put the visitors ahead, but the lead proved to be shortlived as Rovers replied swiftly with their former Wakefield forward Craig Kopczak crashing over from close range for a try that was goaled by Craig Hall.

Hall turned try scorer five minutes later when he charged the ball down from a Wakefield kick and went in under the posts. His conversion made it 16-6.

But Trinity had their second try before half-time with centre Corey Hall going over after collecting the ball from a great offload. Jowitt's subsequent goal made it 16-12 at the break.

After a scrappy start to the second half the hosts extended their advantage again as Morgan Smith was the first to pounce on a loose ball. Hall again tagged on the extras.

Another quick reply followed when James Batchelor went over from close range and Jowitt's conversion reduced the lead to four points again.

Wakefield's attempts to score again were hampered when they went down to 12 men 12 minutes from time, David Fifita sin-binned by referee Robert Hicks after lashing out following a great defensive effort from Hardcastle.

Featherstone held out in the closing stages to record a victory that can give them confidence as they begin their Betfred Championship season at York City Knights next Monday.

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