‘Hartley Hare’ too quick for BBC as he misses out on man-of-the-match award

Paul Harkin still does not know how he managed to win man of the match.

The wily scrum-half had a decent game as Hull KR defeated St Helens in the 1981 Challenge Cup semi-final to reach Wembley for a second successive year.

But it paled into insignificance compared to his half-back partner Steve Hartley whose two superb individual tries proved crucial in securing their pathway.

“It was obviously on telly on the BBC and I couldn’t believe it when they got me for the interview afterwards,” recalls Harkin.

“Steve should have got man of the match. They were great tries he scored.

“We used to call him Hartley Hare because when he made a break he was gone. That was it.”

Hartley, who finished with 23 tries from 40 games that season, was simply too elusive for the Saints defence.

He darted between two would-be tacklers and then sped to the line for his first on 54 minutes and showed his class once more with another fine effort at Leeds’s Headingley ground.

With a dummy and shuffle he pierced them again to put the game out of reach and Rovers on course for the final where they would eventually succumb to Widnes.

Their progress was aided by a towering performance from captain Len Casey, the tough loose forward.

Saints were without their usual scrum-half – the tricky Neil Holding – so Steve Peters came in as his replacement.

However, apparently one hefty challenge from Casey at the back of a scrum saw him negated and his impact was minimal.

In the days when No 7s were still allowed to sneak around the back of a scrum and harass their opposite number, it made Harkin’s life considerably easier.

His kicking game was superior to anything Saints had to offer and, after a tense and evenly sparred first period, the East Yorkshire club powered home to the biggest winning margin in a semi-final since Leeds defeated Wigan 25-4 13 years previously.

Level at 5-5 at half-time, when, incidentally, the BBC made the teams stay in the dressing room longer than usual as they had to switch to Aintree for the Grand National before resuming, it was hard to decipher who would go on and prosper.

Harry Pinner had been Saints’ stand-out man at loose forward, scoring their only try in the 31st minute which Clive Griffths converted to cancel out Phil Hogan’s opener.

Harkin had been involved in that 16th-minute effort linking with full-back David Hall to create the space for the powerful centre, who had recently switched from the second-row with good effect, to charge in from 40m. Steve Hubbard scored the first of his five goals and Rovers’ forwards gradually got on top.

Chris Burton and Great Britain international Phil Lowe excelled in the second-row, wearing down the opposition pack and allowing the likes of Hartley, Harkin and co to thrive.

Peter Muscroft got their third try after Hartley’s first and they eased home having won the second-half scrum count 8-2.

Harkin said: “Len Casey was another who had a good game that day and I had plenty of space to do what I wanted.”

The clubs meet again on Sunday in the Cup quarter-final, Rovers having lost at that stage to Saints three years ago and also in the 2006 semi-final.