HULL KR 28 WARRINGTON WOLVES 20
JAMES GORDON, Sewell Group Craven Park, Thursday
HULL KR became the ninth club to win the Super League League Leaders’ Shield after surviving a fright at home to Warrington.
It was far from the predicted procession, with the Robins only certain that they would finish top of the pile when Tyrone May crossed for a converted try in the final five minutes.
Warrington threatened to spoil the party from the start and two excellent Danny Walker 40/20s gave them field position.
They broke the deadlock on six minutes when Marc Sneyd’s high kick was claimed almost unopposed by Josh Thewlis to waltz in. After Walker’s second 40/20 kick, Warrington thought they had scored a second try when Cai Taylor-Wray danced through on the left, only for the video referee to disallow it for a soft obstruction.
The Wolves continued to put on some early pressure and Tom Davies caught well to snuff out another Sneyd kick.
As no doubt a little anxiety caused some hush in the ground, KR eventually made their way up to the other end and were held up close to the line through Jez Litten. They got back on level terms on 22 minutes when a hand-in off a last tackle kick gave them a repeat set and May ghosted through from 15 metres out.
Two tries in the final seven minutes of the first half looked to have broken Warrington’s resistance, smart play by Mikey Lewis and Arthur Mourgue to keep alive a loose ball from a May kick enabled Noah Booth to stroll in on the left corner, and he added his second try – his seventh in six starts for the club – right on the hooter as Rovers created an overlap, exposing Matt Dufty’s lack of experience in defence at centre.
But after Mourgue had an early second-half try ruled out for a double movement, Warrington turned the game on its head with a fine fightback.
Young half-back Ewan Irwin’s short kick sat up for Sam Stone to touch down and then Adam Holroyd crashed on to a short ball to touch down after a Mourgue knock on had given them the ball in good position to level things up at 16-all.
They maintained the pressure on the Rovers and another error led to a scrum on the 10 metre line and from it, the Wolves moved the ball right. An excellent fend and offload out of the back door by Dufty was matched by the acrobatics of Josh Thewlis in scoring in the right corner to give them the lead.
The earlier worries of the crowd returned as the unthinkable happening became a possibility again, and for a while Warrington stood up defensively, Dufty putting in a couple of crucial man-and-ball tackles on Lewis.
It was in broken play on 68 minutes that Hull KR earned the lead back, Mourgue evading more than a couple of tacklers on a kick return before winning a foot race over 70 metres despite the chase of Taylor-Wray, with Rhyse Martin’s goal kick edging the hosts in front at 22-20, before May made sure out of the outcome late on.
GAMESTAR: Danny Walker showed pride and led a gutsy Warrington display on a night that wasn’t about them.
GAMEBREAKER: Although Mourgue’s long-range try would have been enough, Rovers weren’t sure until Tyrone May crossed on 76.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Arthur Mourgue’s 70-metre try brought the house down.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts – Danny Walker (Warrington)
2 pts – Tyrone May (Hull KR)
1 pt – Ryan Matterson (Warrington)
MATCHFACTS
ROVERS
35 Arthur Mourgue
2 Tom Davies
3 Peta Hiku
4 Oliver Gildart
36 Noah Booth
6 Mikey Lewis
7 Tyrone May
8 Sauaso Sue
9 Jez Litten
10 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
11 Dean Hadley
12 James Batchelor
13 Elliot Minchella
Subs
15 Sam Luckley
16 Jai Whitbread
17 Rhyse Martin
18 Jack Broadbent (not used)
18th man
20 Kelepi Tanginoa
Tries: May (23, 76), Booth (34, 40), Mourgue (69)
Goals: Martin 4/5
WOLVES
23 Cai Taylor-Wray
2 Josh Thewlis
3 Toby King
1 Matt Dufty
28 Jake Thewlis
36 Ewan Irwin
35 Marc Sneyd
15 Joe Philbin
9 Danny Walker
27 Luke Thomas
38 Sam Stone
21 Adam Holroyd
40 Ryan Matterson
Subs
14 Sam Powell
25 Lucas Green (not used)
24 Max Wood
39 Tom McKinney
18th man
Ben Hartill
Tries: Josh Thewlis (5, 61), Stone (51), Holroyd (55)
Goals: Sneyd 2/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6, 10-6, 16-6; 16-10, 16-16, 16-20, 22-20, 28-20
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Rovers: Tyrone May; Wolves: Danny Walker
Penalty count: 5-5
Half-time: 16-6
Referee: Aaron Moore
Attendance: Not given