Match Reports
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Full Time Rovers 22 - Swinton Lions 12.
Half Time Rovers 14 - Swinton Lions 6 A hat trick of tries for Rovers 19 year old Neil Lowe was sufficient to see Rovers one step nearer the Grand Final. In a tense, pulsating game Lowe's third try ten minutes from the end gave Rovers the breathing space they needed. The atmosphere generated by a disappointingly low crowd certainly gave the match the perfect support. After a delay in the kick off for no apparent reason, Swinton managed to cross the Rovers line only to be denied by an earlier knock on. An early penalty conceded by Swinton gave Chapman the chance to put Rovers in the lead but surprisingly he missed the easy attempt. Swinton powered back up the slope well led by George Mann and from a rather lucky rebound Sean Casey collected the ball and crossed close enough for Gartland to convert. An excellent cross kick by Gartland on the sixth tackle found winger Price-Jones in oceans of space and looking a certain scorer until Pratt produced a superb cover tackle. A swift turn over and play the ball enabled Rovers to strike back with the score of the game. From the play the ball Coventry found a gap on the short side and sprinted clear. With Pratt at his shoulder all the way he drew the full back and sent Pratt in. Three minutes later the game changed complexion as Lowe deftly chipped over the Swinton defence and regathered the kick to score under the posts. Fallins took over the kicking from an out of sorts Chapman to add the goal. Lowe struck again three minutes later when he grubber kicked forward and reacted quickest to touch down wide out. There was no further score up to the interval Half Time Rovers 14 - Swinton Lions 6 Swinton emerged from the break in very determined mood and cut the arrears as Hulme crossed under the posts with Chico Jackson limping off on the far side of the field and the fourth official refusing to allow Rovers' a substitution. A disallowed touch down to Swinton for a forward pass was followed by Pratt being recalled as he chased a bouncing ball to the posts. With a mere two points separating the teams Fallins coolly popped over a drop goal to break the scoring deadlock of the previous 25 minutes but he wasted the advantage by putting the ball directly into touch on the restart. An incident in which Paul Hulme was put on report allowed Rovers to clear their lines and led to Lowe's third try. A reverse pass from Fallins found Lowe in support and he raced round to the posts to give Fallins an easy conversion. There was still time for Fallins to add a further drop goal before the final whistle. Rovers 22 - Swinton 12. Steve Simms was delighted with his team's performance and picked out Pratt and Lowe as game stars. " Both these lads have a great future in the game. This game was a very hard one for us and it is going to get harder with each game. We are looking forward to Dewsbury next week, to what will probably be a very difficult game. Preliminary Semi-Final: Hull KR 18 Dewsbury 2
Man of the Match:
Neil Lowe
Scorers
Rovers:
Tries:
Pratt (23)
Lowe 3 (26,29,70)
Goals:
Chapman 0 from 2 (0%)
Fallins 2 from 4 (50%)
Drop Goals:
Fallins 2
Penalties:
7
Scrums:
10
Tackles:
First Half: 63
Second Half: 73
Total: 136
Missed Tackles:
4
Off loads:
2
20m taps:
2
drop out:
1
turn overs:
1
handling errors:
8
Swinton:
Tries:
Casey (17)
Hulme (46)
Goals:
Gartland (2)
Penalties:
5
Scrums:
9
Referee P Gilmore Attendance 1770 . Rovers Team 1) Steve Collins, 2) Carl Hall, 3) Shaun Irwin, 4) Danny Baker, 5) Karl Pratt 6) Jamie Coventry 7) Ty Fallins 8) Chico Jackson (Clarkson 47) 9) Richard Chapman 10) Stuart Dickens 11) Gary Price (Amone 55) 12) Neil Lowe 13) Richard Slater 14) Paddy Handley 15) Asa Amone 16) Mickey Clarkson 17) Steve Dooler. Swinton Team 1) Mark Welsby 2) Simon Ashcroft 3) Jimmy Veikoso 4) Andy Craig 5) Gavin Price-Jones 6) Steve Gartland 7) Ian Watson 8) George Mann (Blease 26) 9) Pete Cannon (Hodgkinson 40 Cannon 71) 10) Tony Barrow Mann 40) 11) Colley (Evans 76) 12) Paul Hulme 13) Sean Casey (Barrow 60) 14) Damien Cleary 15) Jim Evans 16) Hodgkinson 17) Ian Blease
Half time 14 - 6 Penalty 7 - 5. Scoring 0 0 4 8 10 14 14 14 15 19 21 22 ..... 4 6.6. 6 .6 .6 10 12 12 12 12 12 Rovers man of the match NEIL LOWE. Rovers Academy went down at Warrington on Sunday by 28 - 38. Scorers for Rovers were Tries, Jamie Rooney (3) David Riley, Jamie Stokes Goals , Jamie Rooney (4).