Donaldson doubles up as Hull KR fend off Sheffield

The Eagles battled away in tough conditions at KCOM Craven Park but a strong second-half display saw the Robins secure an impressive two points.

The visitors were in the game at half-time, trailing 18-10 thanks to tries from Duane Straughier and Garry Lo – with a solitary Dane Chisholm conversion – but failed to register a point after the break.

Rovers’ tries came from Donaldson (2), Ben Cockayne, Thomas Minns, Andrew Hefernan, Adam Quinlan, Chris Clarkson, Jordan Abdull with Jamie Ellis booting nine goals.

This was Hull KR’s fifth consecutive victory since relegation from Super League, and head coach Tim Sheens was leased with how his side pressed home their advantage in the second half.

He said: “We handled the conditions pretty well overall.

“They made it tough for us in that first half in particular and it was always going to be difficult in the conditions. At the end of the day, these are the way these games go.

“Everyone can’t expect you to just race to a cricket score, it doesn’t happen, there are lots of things that can have an influence and the opposition always have their say.

“Sheffield’s left edge, Garry Lo and Menzie Yere, caused us some problems when they had the ball. They’re two big Papua New Guineans and they were strong, although we caused problems for them too when we had it. Dane Chisholm added some speed to that edge as well after he pushed forwards into the halves.

“We’d prepared for him to play at full-back so we had to adjust to that. I coached him at Wests Tigers and he’s a classy, unpredictable No 7.

“I was happy with the defensive effort. They had a lot of ball in the first half and we managed to pull away in front.

“We handled the conditions better in the second half and to keep them to nil was a bonus after half-time.”

Hull KR: Quinlan, Cockayne, Minns, Heffernan, Shaw, Abdull, Ellis, Scruton, Lunt, Kavanagh, Blair, Greenwood, Donaldson. Substitutes: Horne, Clarkson, Salter, Mulhern.

Sheffield: Millar, Lo, Yere, Johnson, Harper, Foster, Chisholm, Wheeldon, Fozard, James, Scott, Straughier, Minchella. Substitutes: Burns, Whiteley, Hope, Trout.

Referee: C Straw (RFL).