Hull Kingston Rovers 54 Crusaders 10: Rovers bring dreadful run to end with Crusaders romp

JUSTIN MORGAN was happy to see his Hull Kingston Rovers side regain some pride as they got back to winning ways with a mauling of the Crusaders.

Michael Dobson led the way with 30 points for the home side, including a hat-trick of tries, as Rovers won back their place in the top eight of the table with a rousing win.

The victory was much-needed for the home side after shipping 134 points in three successive drubbings, and Morgan was pleased with the way his men responded after a fortnight off.

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"That was most probably as good as the script I could have written," he said.

"I'm really pleased for them because I've seen how hard they've worked over the past fortnight.

"The Crusaders had a one-point loss in the cup last week and I've been there. We've seen how long it takes to get over losses like that. It takes a lot out of you emotionally.

Rovers came into the game under some considerable pressure, with chairman Neil Hudgell having issued two messages of support for Morgan.

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But the pair need not have worried as their side ran in nine tries, with Dobson taking the role of leading man, after being forced to deny reports that he is planning a return to Australia.

Despite falling to their heaviest defeat of the season, the Crusaders were far from embarrassed at times and, had they been more ruthless in attack, most notably through their lively yet erratic scrum-half Jarrod Sammut, they could have made it more of an even contest.

The Rovers forwards were impressive in the early stages and it was on the back of their efforts that the home side went ahead with six minutes on the clock, Clint Newton going in for his first try since the opening day of the season.

A second try followed two minutes later following a move that made a mockery of the Robins' recent form.

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Mick Vella's delayed pass sent Kris Welham racing clear and, after the centre had off-loaded to Shaun Briscoe, the England full-back resisted Clinton Schifcofske's tackle to play Ben Cockayne in for his fifth of the season.

The points continued to flow for the home side, and so did the slick rugby, as Liam Watts slipped out a pass to Josh Hodgson, before the hooker did the same to allow Dobson to sprint clear.

The Crusaders did manage to stem the tide, though, and got back into the game with 25 minutes gone when Gareth Raynor, making his first appearance in two months, went in after Sammut's offload.

It could have been so much better for them soon after too had Michael Witt not thrown a forward pass to Weller Hauraki under the posts, rather than taking the simple option of going over himself.

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Witt's error was soon magnified, with Watts and Dobson combining again on 29 minutes, the latter claiming his second try, before he wrapped up his hat-trick seven minutes before the break, picking off Adam Peek's pass to race the length of the field.

The Crusaders dominated the game for the first 10 minutes of the second half but were often guilty of trying to force one too many passes, and so it proved as Newton snatched in Sammut's ambitious ball to race the length of the field for his second try.

Sammut snared himself a third try in the English game as the hour-mark passed, only for Watts to celebrate his new two-year deal by going in for his second of the campaign at the other end.

England wing Peter Fox ran in another try two minutes from time, before Welham added a ninth in the last minute, with Dobson kicking the goal to finish with a 100 per cent record and a personal haul of 30 points.

"We showed a great deal of enthusiasm," added Morgan.

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"We had a couple of runaway tries and to see everyone in the team going to congratulate that player, those signs reinforce my belief about the togetherness of this group. We have to push on from this point.

"It was the most energised performance I've seen this season, the battle is to continue that on. That's just one small step, there's plenty more to go.

"I thought we looked solid defensively from the start. We needed to do that because that's what we've needed to address. It's nice to make a plan and see it come to fruition."

Crusaders boss Brian Noble felt his side paid the price for some poor execution.

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"There are a couple of things not going our way at the moment," Noble said. "The bounce of the ball, intercepts. We're not quite cute enough getting out of situations at the moment, but take nothing away from Hull KR, who ran stronger than us all afternoon.

"I was disappointed with the way we went about our task but the pressure valve can be taken away by things that are out of our control."

Hull K R: Briscoe, Fox, Newton, Welham, Cockayne, Murrell, Dobson, Vella, Hodgson, Clinton, Galea, Netherton, Watts. Substitutes: Wheeldon, Fisher, Lovegrove, Cook.

Crusaders RL: Schifcofske, Thomas, Mellars, Hanbury, Raynor, Witt, Sammut, O'Hara, Withers, Bryant, Hauraki, Chan, Trimarchi. Substitutes: Winternstein, Peek, Flower, Lupton.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington).

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