Head coach Sean Long happy as Featherstone Rovers continue to Bash opposition

Rovers ran in nine tries to remain unbeaten at the top of the Betfred Championship and thrilled a big contingent of travelling fans who made their way to the LNER Community Stadium.

"I’ve got to be happy with that,” said Long. “There’s some things we need to tidy up, but the sheer weight of possession we had in the first half paid dividends in the second half.

"It’s a bit disappointing conceding three tries, but all in all it was a good team because York are a good team and they are well coached.

"We were more direct in the second half and stopped trying to go round them. The floodgates started opening a little bit and it looked like we were running downhill. We started to play flat and fast with our middle combos and playing through them."

Long had words of praise for several of his players: “I thought Gadwin (Springer) was outstanding. He really stepped up and led from the front.

"His strength of carry was good, his D was good and his contact was good.

"JD (John Davies), McKenzie (Yei) had a good impact, Junior (Moors), I could go on, I was happy with everyone. Gaz (Gale) scores tries for fun.”

Long admitted he was enjoying his first year as Rovers head coach.

He added: “I’m loving it and the boys are great.

"It’s a tough competition and if you’re not prepared you get turned over. We’ve had some close calls – Batley away and Sheffield, we’ve scraped through.

"It’s just about trying to keep the boys focused and turning up each week with the right standards what we’ve set. The main goal is to get to Super League.

"We're bringing players in to bolster the squad and have some strength in depth. We’ve got more guys coming back from injury.

"It was Fordy’s (Johnathon Ford) and Hank’s (Chris Hankinson) first game back and they will get better and we’ve got Mark Kheirallah back soon.

Featherstone are now back at home this Sunday when they take on Barrow Raiders.