Giants’ winning run is all Rover...
HULL KR ............. 37 10 .............. GIANTS
HUDDERSFIELD Giants’ recent good run was brought to an abrupt halt by an impressive Hull KR side who kept their hopes of mounting a late charge into Super League’s top eight alive with a comfortable victory.
Second-bottom Rovers were irresistible as they stormed over for six tries, with winger Ryan Shaw leading the way with an individual points tally of 20 from two tries and six goals against the eighth-placed Giants, whose run of five top-flight triumphs on the trot was halted in emphatic fashion.
The eye-catching scoreline also helped Hull KR complete a devastating double over Huddersfield, who they had beaten 38-6 at the John Smith’s Stadium in March, and took them to within four points of the
Rovers were the dominant force throughout the opening period and were full value for their 12-4 interval advantage. In fact, given the pressure they exerted on Simon Woolford’s side’s defence, they will have been a little disappointed the lead was not greater.
Huddersfield may have been the first to strike, with hesitancy in the Hull KR defence from an Oliver Russell kick giving Darnell McIntosh the simplest of touchdowns in the 15th minute, but that was a rare spell of Giants pressure.
It was a score that was totally against the run of play, and it was no surprise when the hosts took the lead in the 30th minute.
Soft hands close to the Huddersfield try-line created space for Joel Tomkins to mark his first home game for his new club following his move from Wigan to plunge over from close range for Shaw to add the conversion and nudge the Robins 6-2 ahead.
And within four minutes they had doubled their tally as Robbie Mulhern’s strong dive to the line and neat off-load gave the supporting Adam Quinlan a walk-in.
It was the least Hull KR’s efforts deserved.
The home side continued from where they left off at the start of the second half by going straight back onto the attack and added their third converted try within three minutes of the restart to further underline their supremacy as Junior Vaivai dived over in uncompromising fashion.
At this stage, it was all one-way traffic, with Mulhern breaking clear just inside the visitors’ half and feeding Quinlan once again for the full-back to race over for his second.
Shaw’s fourth conversion made it 24-4 after 47 minutes.
Quinlan then turned provider for his side’s fifth by giving Shaw just enough space to finish off neatly in the corner from 15m and then add the touchline goal.
Shaw had only to wait three minutes to cross for his second as Vaivai teased the Giants defence and fed his winger to finish off for another try he converted from out wide.
Huddersfield did deserve some
credit for refusing to wave the white flag and grabbed their second try as Aaron Murphy force his way over from close range with eight minutes remaining, which was converted by Russell.
But it was inevitably the Robins who had the last word with Chris Atkin’s 79th-minute drop goal to rub salt into the Giants’ gaping wounds.
■ JOSH Charnley’s sensational try-scoring run continued to help Warrington beat struggling Salford 30-14 in Betfred Super League.
The sides were locked at 14-14 in a tense encounter when Charnley struck in the second half with another superb winger’s try with a spectacular diving finish in the corner.
That took his tally to 17 tries in just 14 appearances as the Wolves leapfrogged Castleford into third place.
Warrington’s other tries came from Tom Lineham, Toby King, Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper and Sitaleki Akauola with Bryson Goodwin landing three conversions.
The defeat was tough on Salford but they stay rooted in the bottom four and look like they will have to battle for their Super League lives in the Qualifiers with just four games remaining before the split.
St Helens went six points clear at the top as they extended their winning run to eight games with a 34-30 victory against Wakefield.
However, the hosts were given a huge scare as a resilient Trinity outfit clawed back a 20-6 half-time deficit with four quickfire tries to lead 26-20.