HULL KR 28 CATALANS DRAGONS 10
JAMES CHESTNEY, Sewell Group Craven Park,Friday

HULL KR came through a scrappy encounter with Catalans to make it four wins in a row.

In truth, the Robins had the game won leading 22-6 at half-time before both sides endured a second-half with very little continuity.

The early pressure came from the Robins with Rhyse Martin going close. That occurred before a combination of James Batchelor, Tyrone May and Jez Litten took them within striking distance.

As a result, it was sleight of hand from May which saw Jack Broadbent break through the Dragons line to open the scoring. Martin kicked the first of his three first-half conversions.

The Dragons had their own chance shortly after when Lewis Dodd, Toby Sexton and Tommy Makinson combined but on the next tackle Dodd lost possession.

Rovers made them pay when they took the ball back down the field and a superb Elliot Minchella offload saw Jez Litten race over from 30 metres.

The home side could have had another but Jai Whitbread was held short on the last tackle.

Not to be denied midway through the half, Peta Hiku broke through the Dragons defence to find Broadbent on his shoulder to touch down for his second try.

Leading 18-0, Rovers would be pegged back on 24 minutes when Charlie Staines collected the ball to cut through the Rovers defence with ease on an 80-metre sprint to the line with Tom Davies hot on his heels. Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet added the conversion.

Nine minutes from half-time came the now customary Joe Burgess try after Ryan Hampshire was taken high by Benjamin Garcia. The ball went wide for Martin to pass out of the tackle for the winger to go in. Martin missed his first conversion of the game.

Immediately following the resumption, Rovers should have had another try but Dean Hadley failed to hold onto a Tom Amone pass. It was then a superb tackle by May which halted Tommy Makinson close to the line but the winger would get his revenge.

Mistakes were aplenty and scoring opportunities limited with the Dragons looking to score with a four on one but Dodd’s pass to Staines was forward.

Back down the other end, Hiku was held up short before May put the game out of reach. Brute strength from the halfback, on the back of two set restarts, saw him force his way over the line as Martin landed the conversion.

The Dragons just wouldn’t go away though as a break by Aspuro-Bichet, mirroring Staines’ first-half effort, saw him hauled down by Broadbent. The ball went wide for Makinson to go in for an easy try as Aspuro-Bichet failed to add the conversion.

GAMESTAR: Jack Broadbent – a brace for the fullback to give Rovers a vital two points in the final charge for Old Trafford.

GAMEBREAKER: Tyrone May’s try in the final quarter finally saw off any hope of a Dragons comeback.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Charlie Staines’ 80-metre break downfield to get the Dragons back in the game.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Jack Broadbent (Hull KR)
2 pts Jez Litten (Hull KR)
1 pt Charlie Staines (Catalans Dragons)

ROBINS
14 Jack Broadbent
2 Tom Davies
3 Peta Hiku
17 Rhyse Martin
5 Joe Burgess
34 Ryan Hampshire
7 Tyrone May
11 Dean Hadley
9 Jez Litten
15 Sam Luckley
16 Jai Whitbread
12 James Batchelor
13 Elliot Minchella
Subs (All used)
10 Tom Amone
19 Karl Lawton
22 Bill Leyland
35 Tevita Pangai Jnr
18th man (not used)
25 Louis Gorman
Also in 21-man squad
21 Noah Booth
24 Jack Charles
33 Frankie Dearlove

Tries: Broadbent (6,19), Litten (13), Burgess (31), May (60)
Goals: Martin 4/5

DRAGONS
1 Charlie Staines
2 Tommy Makinson
3 Nick Cotric
24 Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet
28 Leo Darrelatour
6 Toby Sexton
7 Lewis Dodd
16 Josh Allen
19 Kruise Leeming
10 Julian Bousquet
13 Benjamin Garcia
20 Zac Lipowicz
9 Alrix Da Costa
Subs (all used)
8 Chris Satae
12 Ben Condon
21 Matthieu Laguerre
30 Alexis Lis
18th man (not used)
29 Giovanni Descalzi
Also in 21-man squad
25 Lenny Marc
26 Ugo Tison
27 Clement Martin

Tries: Staines (24), Makinson (72)
Goals: Aispuro-Bichet 1/2

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 18-6, 22-6 ; 28-6, 28-10

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Robins: Jez Litten; Dragons: Charlie Staines

Penalty count: 4-6
Half-time: 22-6
Referee: Liam Rush