Rovers crush City Knights

Featherstone bounced back from their shock Northern Rail Cup final defeat with a 40-12 win at lowly York to strengthen their lead at the top of the Co-operative Championship.

Winger Rangi Ropati marked his comeback from a four-month absence with a fractured jaw by scoring tries at the start of each half as Rovers cruised to a victory that took them five points clear of Halifax, their conquerors at Blackpool last Sunday.

Nathan Chappel also scored two tries and others came from Sam Smeaton, Dominic Maloney and Kyle Briggs, with Liam Finn kicking six goals.

Tom Bush and Rhys Clarke scored York's tries and player-coach Chris Thorman kicked both conversions as the City Knights slipped to a fifth successive defeat.