Huddersfield Giants 40 Hull Kingston Rovers 12: Brown out to erase memory of Wembley final agony

They swept into the fifth round to set up a re-match with Warrington Wolves, who beat them in last season's final, and made sure it proved a horrible weekend for the city of Hull.

With Hull FC knocked out by Leeds on Saturday, Rovers swiftly followed yesterday as Kevin Brown inspired the Giants in a seven-try success.

The stand-off who saw his season ended by a knee injury against Warrington in last year's final – delivered a masterclass in the first half as Huddersfield built up an unassailable 22-0 lead.

With Kiwi Test star David Fa'alogo at his robust best and Luke Robinson again shining following his switch to hooker, the home side had too much power and panache for the hapless Robins.

Huddersfield had already seen two efforts ruled out before Jamahl Lolesi scored in the 16th minute.

Brown's pinpoint crossfield kick was palmed down expertly by Leroy Cudjoe into the waiting hands of Lolesi and Brett Hodgson converted from wide out.

They should have added another when, showing the adventure which has become their trademark, the Giants swept possession wide and ran from deep inside their own half on the last tackle. Paul Whatuira made the break and Lee Gilmour strode down field but, with Brown screaming for the ball on his inside, the former St Helens man inexplicably kicked ahead for winger Dave Hodgson and Rovers negated the threat.

At times, the East Yorkshire club did show some real bravery defending their own line.

Joel Clinton delivered a shuddering hit on Keith Mason which bent the Huddersfield prop backwards and – after Chas I'Anson had kicked out on the full to hand the hosts more position – Liam Watts somehow stopped Andy Raleigh before Scott Murrell did likewise on a thundering Eorl Crabtree.

But the pressure proved too much and when the ball was sprayed wide, Fa'alogo had space to throw a splendid dummy and slide over.

Rovers scrum-half Michael Dobson, meanwhile, had an afternoon to forget, looking like he was auditioning for the NFL with the amount of forward passes he threw.

One such error gifted more position from which Huddersfield scored their third try on the half-hour mark follwoing a perfectly-executed set move.

Robinson fed Brown from dummy half and his instant inside pass saw David Faiumu race through the gap, Robinson – as ever – supporting to finish off the clinical attack which has hurt so many sides over the last couple of seasons.

Then Brown's arrow-like long pass disected the Rovers defence once more allowing untouched winger David Hodgson a simple walk-over at the corner for his 11th try of the season.

With so many creative options – Robinson, Brown, Danny Brough and Brett Hodgson – at the ready, on the back of a powerful forward performance, Huddersfield left their opponents reeling.

"That first half was pretty flawless," admitted coach Nathan Brown.

"We probably played as good as we have played and on the right day too."

Huddersfield looked like they would pile on more pressure straight from the start of the second period when Rovers allowed Brough's restart to roll dead. But the home side made a rare handling error and the match started to deteriorate.

Dobson gave another forward pass, Shaun Briscoe messed up a towering Brough kick, Ben Galea knocked on again but the Giants were not as fine-tuned themselves and passes started to drop.

That allowed Rovers – who had reached the quarter-finals for the last two seasons – just enough opportunity to respond, ensuring they did not suffer another whitewash at the hands of Giants as they had done in the Super League meeting back in February.

Kiwi centre Jake Webster profited collecting Clint Newton's one-handed overhead pass to dive in at the corner on 56 minutes, Dobson finally putting a foot right by curling in the conversion. But 10 minutes later Brough made sure there was no chance of a Rovers comeback by intercepting Galea's pass and racing 65 metres to score, Brett Hodgson's kick making it 28-6.

Briscoe replied when Brown dallied behind his own line and failed to deal with Murrell's stabbed kick, his ex-Wigan team-mating pouncing on the loose ball, Dobson tagging on the extras.

However, Fa'alogo rampaged over for his second, shrugging off some more feeble defence and Rovers fell apart again when Brown sprinted down the middle before Brett Hodgson delayed a pass for Martin Aspinwall to ease in.

Nearly half the 7,241 crowd had come from east Hull but the side's fanatical support was badly let down.

Coach Justin Morgan admitted: "So many parts of our game just weren't there. Everyone needs to take repsonsibilty for the mistakes that happened.

"We can be disappointed at being knocked out of the competition but not disillusioned.

"Huddersfield played exceptional well particularly in the first half with great fluency."

Huddersfield: B Hodgson; Cudjoe, Lolesi, Whatuira, D Hodgson; Brown, Brough; Mason, Robinson, Griffin, Gilmour, Fa'alogo, Aspinwall. Substitutes: Crabtree, Lent Raleigh, Faiumu.

Hull KR: Briscoe; Fox, Welham, Webster, Cockayne; I'Anson, Dobson; Vella, Murrell, Clinton, Newton, Netherton, Galea. Substitutes: Watts, Lovegrove, Fisher, Cook.

Referee: R Silverwood (Mirfield).

MATCH FOCUS

Hero: Kevin Brown

Luke Robinson ran him close with an outstanding opening spell but the way Kevin Brown controlled the contest with his creative options was a pleasure to watch. Always seems to have time with the ball and rarely gets flustered.

Villain: Michael Dobson

The Hull KR scrum-half never got going and, by his high standards, delivered a disappointing display. His side needed him firing but his distribution was off and his kicking game was largely subdued.

Key moment

36th minute: Hull KR were already looking doomed at 18-0 down but when Kevin Brown's cut-out pass sent David Hodgson in for Huddersfield's fourth try there was no way back. It came just before half-time and at that point it was easy to envisage another Giants shut-out against beleaguered Rovers.

Verdict

With Kevin Brown and Luke Robinson in such devastating form, Huddersfield can afford for Brett Hodgson to not be at his creative best. Hull KR, though, struggle when Michael Dobson mis-fires.

Next game

Giants v Crusaders (a) Sunday 3pm

Hull KR v Bradford (a) Sunday 3pm

Quote of the day

When we signed him we knew he was good but didn't know he was as good. The NRL's the best competition around and I don't know why he's not there –

Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown on Kiwi David Fa'alogo.