McGuire sin-binned again but turns out to be late hero
DANNY McGUIRE went from sinner to match-winner as Hull KR ground out a tough two points in the mud.
The stand-in Rovers captain was yellow-carded for dissent in the first half for the second week running, and then conceded the penalty that looked to have handed Wakefield victory.
But moments later one of Super League’s great poachers was in the right place to swoop on a loose ball and score the game’s only try with seven minutes left.
The only negative for Rovers coach Tim Sheens was the loss of James Greenwood with a serious knee injury that will be scanned today. Sheens also chose not to criticise McGuire for his second straight sin-binning.
He said: “I had a talk to him and Danny felt he approached the referee in the right vein.
“It’s something we’ll take up with the RFL but I don’t want to be openly discussing it to any great degree.
“Any coach would be happy with that effort today.
“Particularly after losing Danny for 10 minutes and then James Greenwood with what looks like an ACL.
“We were down in numbers and down in size, and to stay with them in that second half and come up with the winning try was a great result. A win for us today was super, super important.”
Trinity, so clinical in their impressive win at Leeds Rhinos last week, could not find a way through the Robins’ resilient defence in dreadful conditions – and saw Rovers leapfrog over them in the Super League table as a result of this defeat.
But coach Chris Chester also felt that two crucial decisions went against his side, including McGuire’s score.
Chester said: “There’s a knock-on in the air, it’s not a try.
“Then we had the Tom Johnstone one where you look at it frame-by-frame and he got the ball down, it’s a perfectly good try.
“They get a team warning then there’s a penalty in the next set and nobody is sent to the sin-bin.
“The rucks were a disgrace today – you could get away with anything.”
Danny Brough’s opening penalty in the 32nd minute led to McGuire’s yellow card, though Rovers levelled in his absence through Craig Hall.
The goal-kickers traded further penalties before the late drama unfolded.
Winger Johnstone was adjudged to be in touch in Hall’s cover tackle, Brough edged Wakefield in front after McGuire hit him late, before the Rovers veteran clinched it by going over in the mud with the clock running down.