Rovers blow it in real Jor-dropper
32 Hull KR 30
ROVERS blew a 14-point lead as Catalans came back from the dead for the third week in a row.
Scrum-half Jordan Abdull bombarded the table-topping French side with a series of high bombs to put Rovers 14-points in front at half-time – but it wasn’t enough to resist a late onslaught from the table-topping Dragons which took them to a club-record 10 wins in a row.
Hull KR coach Tony Smith admitted: “I was pleased with the effort – but not so much with the overall performance.
“I thought we controlled the game really well in the first half. But we had really poor control and discipline in the second half which was really disappointing in terms of where we want to be at this stage of the season.
“We had a great opportunity there to turn our opponents over but all credit to Catalans for fighting back so strongly.
“It’s difficult to lose a game like that, particularly when you’ve played so well in the first half with some great individual performances.
“But collectively in the second half we weren’t great. I’m not making any excuses saying we were rusty or anything and we’ve learnt some really pertinent lessons in that second 40 and we will take that into the next couple of weeks for sure.
“So we’re not going to sulk about it or get carried away with either aspect of our game, we’ll just soak it up, learn from it and put it into Thursday.”
Rovers were first to score through Abdull (below) but the Dragons hit back when second row Matt Whitley collected to stroll unhindered between the posts, Arthur Mourgue converting to level it at 6-6.
Robins sturck back when Shaun Kenny-Dowall mopped up a fumbled high kick by Tom Davies to cross the line.
Sam Tomkins responded for Les Dracs with a side-stepping dash to the left of the posts for a try, Mourgue converting to level the scores once more.
Abdull’s bombing mission continued when a steepler bamboozled Tomkins for Greg Minikin to collect and swoop between the sticks, then Adam Quinlan raced 50 metres to make it 12-26 at the break.
Catalans produced a second-half blitz that blew away the Robins, but it was not all good news for Catalans as skipper Ben Garcia was injured in the first half and left the field at the interval with what looked like a broken arm.
Coach Steve McNamara was not happy afterwards, despite the win.
He said: “Of course I’m pleased that we won but I’m really unhappy with the performance.
“In the last three games, where we’ve had to come back, we have had to be very disciplined but it’s quite clear that we are not at the top of our game.”
The comeback began when Sam Kasiano found Mickael Goudemand to put the French international second-row over the line then Fouad Yaha crossed and Mourgue pinched victory for the Dragons.