Giants take stride up the table at Rovers’ expense
IS NOT ENOUGH FOR SMITH’S MEN
Tries: Golding, Mcgillvary 2, Cudjoe, Wardle; Mcqueen Goals: Sezer 1/4, Russell 3/3
Hull KR left their comeback too late as they suffered a 32-22 defeat to Huddersfield Giants in a game that was overshadowed by late coronavirus drama.
The match had been in doubt after four cases were identified in the Giants camp yesterday morning but went ahead with a delayed kickoff.
KR reporter James O’brien delivers the verdict from the John Smith’s Stadium.
Analysis
Driving rain greeted the players as they took to the field and it was not the only dark cloud lingering over Huddersfield.
Rovers were still in Hull when they learned that the game had been pushed p back by y an hour and a half to 7pm but it was a day of uncertainty as a thorough investigation was carried out.
Questions will be asked about the timing of the results, with the late scare seemingly avoidable by moving the tests forward by a day as KR did.
Tries: Parcell 3, Tate; Goals: Ellis 3/4
In the end, Huddersfield coped better with the disruption and the conditions as the Robins served up arguably their worst opening 40 minutes of the season.
Tony Smith’s side were punished for their mistakes and ill-discipline by a Giants outfit that simply p yp played y smart rugby. Rovers were much improved after the break and gave Huddersfield a fright but paid the price for a shocking first half.
KR actually made a positive start and should have opened the scoring when Shaun Kenny-dowall was left in acres of space out wide.
Jermaine Mcgillvary adds his second try
In the greasy conditions it was crying out for an early dive but he left it too late and was forced into t touch.
The Giants quickly took control as t they simply waited for Rovers to make an error, which invariably came as they were making their way out of their own end.
Huddersfield’s opening try came after Kenny Edwards took advantage of a huge hole in the KR d defence before finding support from A Ashton Golding, the full-back managing to score despite a slip and being surrounded by several defenders.
The home side were dominating field position and were in again when Aidan Sezer exploited a numerical advantage with a pinpoint kick to give Jermaine Mcgillvary an easy finish.
Will Tate had been moved to the wing with Ben Crooks getting the nod at full-back and he continued to struggle positionally, Sezer taking advantage again to put Mcgillvary in for his second with a floated pass.
Desperation set in with half-time approaching and KR were punished for one expansive play too many.
Jamie Ellis threw a speculator out wide and it was picked off easily by the Giants, who scored the play after a stunning try-saving tackle by Matt Parcell through Leroy Cudjoe.
Three missed conversions kept Rovers in it at 18-0 at half-time and they came out firing after the restart.
Parcell scored his first try from a perfectly weighted kick into the in-goal area by Jordan Abdull and
had another following nice interplay with Nathaniel Peteru after Oliver Russell had knocked over a penalty for Huddersfield.
The Giants responded through Chris Mcqueen from Sezer’s kick in behind but Parcell completed his hat-trick with a fine individual effort to leave KR eight points behind with 20 minutes to go.
Rovers were pushing again when Abdull put up a spiralling kick, only for Golding to come up with a superb take and run.
Kyle Trout and Parcell sprinted back to pull him down just short of the line but the latter was sinbinned for holding down and that was the game.
Jake Wardle went over out wide to put the match beyond doubt but there was a nice moment late on for KR as Tate cut back inside to score his first Super League try on the back of an Abdull 40/20.
Key moment
The game was in the balance after a stirring second-half fightback from Rovers but a huge play by Golding ultimately secured the win for Huddersfield.
Good day – Matt Parcell
The hooker celebrated his new deal with a brilliant individual performance that featured three tries and two huge efforts in defence.
Bad day – Tony Smith
The Rovers head coach has one eye on the future but experimented too much at the John Smith’s Stadium, with the Crooks-tate decision particularly puzzling.
The bigger picture
Rovers have plenty of time to recover from this game, with their next fixture taking them to Perpignan on Friday week. It will be a big ask for Smith’s side in the current climate but they have good memories after their win in Catalans Dragons’ backyard last August and have nothing to lose.