BRIEN MIGHTY
Golden boy Gareth sinks Robins again
GARETH O’BRIEN again broke Hull KR hearts on their own ground to seal a remarkable Betfred Challenge Cup tie that lasted over 98 minutes.
Five years after kicking the golden point drop goal that relegated the Robins while playing for Salford, O’brien repeated the trick at the end of an unforgettable clash.
Rovers had looked home and dry when they led 32-18 with less than 10 minutes remaining.
But two tries in five minutes from Derrell Olpherts and Paul Mcshane set up a grandstand finale.
Mcshane created the equalising try after the full-time hooter when he kept a flowing move going and sent Jordan Turner over out wide.
Danny Richardson could not convert what would have been the winning conversion from close to the left touchline so the drama continued.
Both sides missed a succession of drop goal attempts in three periods of extra time before O’brien finally made one count. It was incredibly tough on a Rovers side that started with a greater intensity and fully deserved their 22-6 interval lead.
They struck first when good hands from Mikey Lewis and Adam Quinlan created the space for Ethan Ryan to stroll over out wide.
Cas hit back when Jake Trueman shrugged off two tackles to touch down but it was poor defence from the Tigers that characterised the rest of the half.
Robins substitute hooker Jez Litten made an instant impact by breaking in midfield to send Quinlan under the posts. Albert Vete then crashed over from close range and Matt Parcell from dummy half for tries that will have disappointed Cas coach Daryl Powell.
He needed a major response from his side after the restart and got it.
Richardson’s bouncing pass was finished by Olpherts and Mcshane took advantage of a ricochet to close the gap to four points. They should have been level only for Olpherts to spill the ball with the line open.
Moments later Shaun Kenny-dowall was holding off Peter Mata’utia to reestablish control for the Robins.
And almost immediately the Kiwi centre split the Cas defence out wide to send the excellent Jordan Abdull over.
That should have been game over but those three late Tigers tries sent the clash beyond 80 minutes.