Hull Kingston Rovers recovered from their 60-0 thrashing at Wigan last Friday to run up a 54-6 victory against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats tonight at the KC Lightstream Stadium.
The Robins welcomed back their captain Terry Campese and their latest Australian recruit Dane Tilse, and they proved to be far too strong for Wakefield.
Rovers opened the scoring after 15 minutes when Albert Kelly’s kick to the corner was caught by Josh Mantellato, who handed on to Kevin Larroyer who gave the final pass for Kris Welham to score, although Mantellato couldn’t add the goal.
And Mantallato himself was soon over for the Robins’ second score, going over in the corner from a smart pass by Ben Cockayne, but again Mantellato couldn’t convert.
Wakefield got onto the scoreboard after 25 minutes when Joe Arundel crossed on the left after some good passing, and Craig Hall’s conversion reduced the margin to two points.
Rovers responded quickly, however, as a break from Cockayne saw him hand the ball on to the supporting Kelly, who scored under the posts for Mantellato to land his first conversion after 29 minutes.
And the margin was increased to 14 points four minutes from the interval, when a wonderful pass from Terry Campese put Mantellato into space and he was able to cross in the corner, converting his own try for a 20-6 scoreline at half-time, although Wakefield had a late try by Pita Godinet disallowed for a knock-on by Matt Ryan.
The Robins extended their lead after 50 minutes when Graeme Horne collected a grubber kick into the in-goal from Kelly, with Mantellato’s goal making it 26-6.
Kieran Dixon grabbed the next try when he dispossessed Chris Riley as both players tried to collect a Campese kick, although Dixon couldn’t convert his own try and the scored stood at 30-6.
The Robins added four more tries from Dixon, who followed up a kick from Kelly, Ken Sio, John Boudebza (who scored his first Super League try) and an unrecognisable Tyrone McCarthy, minus his beard, which he had shaved off to raise money for the Danny Jones fund. Mantellato converted all the four final tries to leave the final score at 54-6 in the Robins’ favour.
A full report and photos will feature in Monday’s edition of Rugby League Express.
