Hull KR 20 Leigh Leopards 6: Rovers make home advantage count to land knockout blow on rivals and take step closer to Old Trafford

Rovers will never be able to take Leigh's Wembley win away from them but they have demonstrated their powers of recovery to end the Leopards' season by landing two considerable blows in Super League.

A 52-10 rout of Adrian Lam's side in the wake of their Challenge Cup heartbreak went a long way to securing a play-off tie at Craven Park and the Robins made home advantage count by winning the crucial moments to move to within 80 minutes of Old Trafford.

Three tries in 10 minutes settled the fifth meeting between the sides in 2023 and earned Rovers a sixth straight victory as Jack Walker, Ryan Hall and Sam Luckley crossed to leave Leigh shellshocked.

The Leopards rallied late on but they could only respond through Josh Charnley and were ultimately made to rue losing their grip on fourth place.

Wigan Warriors lie in wait for Willie Peters' side next weekend, unless Warrington Wolves stun St Helens and send Rovers to Catalans Dragons instead in a repeat of the 2021 semi-finals.

KR's first home play-off game since 2009 went to plan but they had to overcome an anxious start against a fired-up Leigh.

Edwin Ipape rocked Shaun Kenny-Dowall – making his final appearance at Craven Park – with a huge hit in the opening minute as the Leopards took the game to the Robins in the absence of influential loose forward John Asiata as well as frontline centres Zak Hardaker and Ricky Leutele.

Ben Reynolds opened the scoring with a penalty on seven minutes after Rovers were penalised in possession to highlight the early nerves in the home ranks.

The Robins had the chance to apply pressure for the first time following a late hit by Ipape on Elliot Minchella and looked set to take advantage when Kane Linnett surged through a gaping hole in the defence, only for Leigh to recover and shut the hosts out.

KR needed a vital ankle tap to halt Kai O'Donnell in his tracks at the other end and had a foothold in the game after the Leopards were penalised for a high shot and Brad Schneider levelled the scores.

There was nothing to separate the sides after 22 pulsating minutes but Rovers had shown enough to suggest they would eventually wear Leigh down around the ruck, as evidenced by a scintillating move that ripped the Leopards open through the middle.

KR kept it tight and linked up brilliantly to create an opening for Walker, only for his final pass to Schneider to be ruled forward.

Luckley was held up on the last tackle before the Robins finally found a way through.

Mikey Lewis and Kenny-Dowall combined to get Leigh scrambling on their right edge and they failed to recover, the outstanding Parcell giving James Batchelor enough room to offload for Walker to score under the posts on the next play.

Schneider added the extras to make it 8-2 and officially settle the home team's nerves.

If the game was in the balance at that stage, Rovers took it away from Leigh with tries either side of half-time.

The first owed to an opportunistic ball steal by Parcell, the hooker picking Gareth O'Brien's pocket expertly to give Hall the chance to power over a play later.

There was a sense the interval had come at a good time for the Leopards but they made a nightmare start to the second half.

O'Brien made a mess of the restart and was duly punished as Luckley wrapped around on the last tackle to take Schneider's pass and crash over.

Schneider was unable to tag on the extras but Craven Park was rocking with the hosts in control at 18-2.

Sensing their season was slipping away, Leigh threw caution to the wind and found joy with shift plays that hurt the Robins in the early games between the rivals in 2023.

Joe Mellor had a close-range try ruled out for an obstruction by Ipape on the goal line but that only delayed the inevitable.

After Charnley broke clear to get Rovers backpeddling, Leigh worked the ball back to the left where the winger finished untouched.

Reynolds missed the conversion from out wide but nerves were evident in KR's performance as the match entered the final quarter.

The Robins eventually weathered the storm and reasserted their control in the closing stages backed by a fervent home crowd.

Peters' men had opportunities to finish it after getting in drop-goal range but opted to play for territory and eventually got their reward.

A brilliant ball steal and break by Hall took the Robins inside Leigh's 20 and when Lewis was caught by a high tackle, Schneider stepped up to put the seal on a memorable win.

Hull KR: Walker, Senior, Opacic, Kenny-Dowall, Hall, Lewis, Schneider, Sue, Parcell, King, Batchelor, Linnett, Minchella. Substitutes: Abdull, Litten, Storton, Luckley.

Leigh Leopards: O'Brien, Briscoe, Gildart, Chamberlain, Charnley, Reynolds, Lam, Amone, Ipape, Mulhern, Hughes, O'Donnell, Wardle. Substitutes: Mellor, Nakubuwai, Holmes, Davis.

Referee: Jack Smith.