Featherstone Rovers 16-20 Sheffield Eagles
- Published
Sheffield Eagles exacted revenge on Featherstone Rovers for last season's Championship Grand Final defeat with a 20-16 victory at Warrington.
Tries from Scott Turner, Quentin Laulu-Togagae, Dane McDonald and Misi Taulapapa, added to Simon Brown's brace of conversions sealed the win.
Rovers, who finished top of the regular season table, scored tries through Ian Hardman and Jon Hepworth.
Liam Finn kicked eight points but it was not enough to close the gap.
Victory for the South Yorkshire side was sweet for coach Mark Aston, who won the Challenge Cup with the Eagles in 1998, and has now claimed silverware for the first time since that famous Wembley success.
It was a different story from last season's 40-4 defeat, as the Eagles opened the scoring through Turner after bright work from centre Menzie Yere, but Hardman responded with a try for Rovers, who then went ahead through Finn's brace of goals.
Laulu-Togagae was next to profit from Yere's powerful running, the Championship Dream Team full-back collecting Turner's pass to cap a slick move, and Brown converted to make it 10-8.
After the break Finn landed a penalty for Rovers with shades of Leeds' win at Wigan on Friday night about the tactics, but quickfire tries on both sides from McDonald and Hepworth kept the scores close.
Finn's kicking was proving the difference, but Taulapapa's score pushed the Eagles ahead and Brown's conversion proved sufficient to take honours back to Bramall Lane.
SUNDAY'S LINE-UPS
Featherstone: Featherstone: Hardman, Ropati, Chappel, Worthington, Saxton, Kain, Finn, England, Kaye, Lockwood, Dale, Spears, Briggs.
Replacements: Maloney for England (19), Hepworth for Lockwood (18), Hepworth for Spears (33), Bostock for Briggs (31).
Sheffield: Lauulu-Togagae, Turner, Yere, Straughier, Taulapapa, Brown, Brambani, Howieson, Henderson, Stringer, Knowles, Scott, Szostak.
Replacements: Higgins for Howieson (23), Davey for Henderson (23), Green for Stringer (27), McDonald for Scott (30).
Att: 6,409
Ref: Tim Roby (RFL)