Hull KR wear down St Helens to go six points clear

Betfred Super League

Hull KR (2) 12

Goals: Martin 4

St. Helens (2) 8

With a close game 12-8 victory over St. Helens, Hull KR moved six points clear of the top of the standings at Craven Park.

After Rhyse Martin’s kick had given the hosts an early lead, Mark Percival’s penalty levelled the score at four points after a fiercely fought first half dominated by both defenses.

Rovers were six clear heading into the final quarter when Saints finally started to wilt as a result of three more Martin penalties.

Joe Burgess scored with a brilliant flat pass from Mikey Lewis to make it 12-2, which was sufficient despite a Saints late Deon Cross try.

After just eight minutes, loose forward Morgan Knowles was forced to miss with a head injury after firing a high shot that gave Martin ten minutes in the penalty box.

When half-back Lewis returned to the field after limping off, and George Delaney, who was playing for Knowles, had his shoulder slammed into Eribe Doro’s head, giving the home fans a sigh of relief, he could have seen worse than a yellow card.

As Rovers attempted to use their man advantage, but a fine scramble defence prevented them in a breathless and scoreless opening half-hour, Martin was inches short and James Batchelor knocked in close to the line.

After Joe Batchelor was fined for an off-the-ball hit on Jez Litten, Martin nudged the hosts ahead, but Saints, who had been a cosh for a while, eventually won level through Percival when Litten was pinged for ruck interference.

Soon after the restart, Joe Batchelor unlawfully prevented Lewis from following up his chip and chase, and Martin kicked a straightforward penalty from his shoulder.

After Peta Hiku stubbed his foot in the opening try, Tom Davies was denied the try, but Rovers jumped out to six points with two quick penalties, with Delaney forcing him to hold on after Lewis slammed into the end zone.

The visitors finally showed signs of wear and tear as Lewis, who unsurprisingly unpick the lock, set up field position with a superb 40-20 kick before providing the try assist, led the charge.

Willie Peters, the head coach of Hull KR, told BBC Radio Humberside:

“I thought we lost last week [at Leeds] in every way,” I thought. This week, we played and responded most effectively.

We’ve got the result, but I’m really, really happy with it because it was a tough, gritty Hull KR performance.

“They’re difficult to break down when you’re facing one of the best defensive teams in the competition,” said one player who ended up taking penalty kicks because they wanted to take the points.

We wanted to be great at that, and I thought for a lot of our time that we were great at that.

Paul Wellens, the head coach of St. Helens, told BBC Radio Merseyside:

In terms of the effort and intensity, I thought it was a really high-quality game. It sounded like a play-off.

“I’m really proud of the players for keeping things moving throughout the game.” There were times in the game when we were put under a lot of pressure.

We wilted under that pressure “ten or eleven weeks ago,” but we certainly didn’t that tonight. As a team, I believe we’ve come a long way.

Luckley, Tanginoa, Doro, and Leyland are exchanges.

Welsby, Sailor, Robertson, Percival, Cross, Lomax, Mbye, Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Sironen, Whitley, Knowles, and others.

Batchelor, Paasi, Delaney, and Burns are exchanges.