Hull Kingston Rovers chairman Neil Hudgell has penned a statement after they were accused of letting Halifax win their Championship clash on Sun day.
Fans took to social media to claim the Robins had thrown the match against Halifax, who needed to win to make the Qualifiers at Toulouse’s expense.
The Robins lost to the French side twice during the regular season and had not lost any other game in Championship action before Sunday’s defeat.
Tim Sheens’ side would have had to travel to Toulouse in the Qualifiers had they been victorious against Halifax, but they now face a trip to Featherstone instead.
The accusations aimed at the Robins triggered Hudgell to take to Twitter, blasting those who had accused them of any wrongdoing.
“There are a few reasons we lost in my view, and one of them wasn’t “throwing the game” as bizarrely suggested by some,” Hudgell wrote on Twitter
“Let’s start by congratulating ‘Fax on a very committed performance.
“We lost our skipper before the game, and our full-back inside half an hour. We had a new half, and three players returning from long-term injury.”
— Neil Hudgell (@NeilHudgell) July 23, 2017
He continued: “Those are small contributory factors, but overall we were beaten by a far hungrier side with something to play for.”
Meanwhile, Sheens was furious with his side after their sloppy display.
“I wanted a response today and didn’t get it. We spoke before the game and said we wanted to win but that Halifax had to win. A team always finds a bit extra in that situation and we didn’t handle that at all.
“We didn’t have any ball in their third of the field for about 20 minutes of the first half, which is unusual for us. We were on the end of a heavy penalty count against us and with the errors we made when we did have the ball, we had very little possession.”
