Ryan Gould at The Big Fella’s Stadium

Crusaders were knocked out of the Tetley’s Challenge Cup at the fourth round stage with a heavy defeat away at Featherstone Rovers.

From the first minute to the last, Rovers were simply far superior in every department and, whenever Crusaders threatened, it was met by a ferocious defensive line.

By half-time, the home side had established a healthy 26-0 lead, and matters only got worse for the Welsh side after the restart.

Fev opened the scoring on three minutes when Steve Crossley managed to barge his way in underneath the sticks.

Will Sharp almost built on that lead but was bundled into touch, before Mendeika did just that as he took advantage of a dropped ball by Dan Birkett.

The away side failed to deal with another high kick – Adam Clay this time – and that gave field position for Crossley to twist in the tackle and touch down his second score of the afternoon.

Then, Jamie Cording raced through a gap and barged Tommy Johnson out of the way to score next to the posts, before Kain intercepted Dallimore’s offload to race down the field and touch down.

The start to the second-half was no better for North Wales; within two minutes of the restart, Mendeika sneaked in at the right corner.

A penalty and an error led to more Rovers pressure, leading to Worthington strolling in near the posts after both Craig White and Adam Clay had shot out of the line.

The lead was built on further when Cording climbed above Stuart Reardon to collect Gareth Moore’s kick and touch down.

Crusaders’ first chance of note came through Matt Reid, but he couldn’t collect Craig White’s kick and knocked on in-goal.

However, Featherstone went up the other end and added a further try through Matty Dale, who collected Moore’s pass before rounding Stuart Reardon for the score.

Sharp dived in at the corner to grab a much-deserved try and then Flanagan and Mendeika added two more four-pointers in the last five minutes.

FEATHERSTONE ROVERS
1 Ian Hardman
27 Etu Uaisele
3 Greg Worthington
22 James Mendeika
2 Will Sharp
23 Andy Kain
7 Gareth Moore
8 Steve Crossley
9 Andy Ellis
10 Keegan Hirst
18 Jamie Cording
12 Tim Spears
11 James Lockwood
Subs:
14 George Flanagan
15 Matty Dale
13 Matty James
19 Kyle Briggs

Tries: Crossley (3, 18), Mendeika (15, 42, 78), Cording (20, 57), Kain (32), Worthington (49), Dale (60), Sharp (70), Flanagan (76),
Goals: Moore (7/10)

NORTH WALES CRUSADERS
23 Greg Wilde
2 Dan Birkett
17 Stuart Reardon
3 Christiaan Roets
22 Adam Clay
28 Craig White
7 Jamie Dallimore
8 Jonny Walker
19 Karl Ashall
10 Mark Offerdahl
26 Matt Reid
29 Stephen Bannister
14 Stephen Wild
Subs:
16 Ryan MacDonald
15 David Mills
25 Owain Griffiths
1 Tommy Johnson

Referee: Gareth Hewer
HT: 26-0
Attendance: 1,312