Hull KR 22 St Helens 14: Hudgell’s warning as Hull KR regain some lost pride

Much was made of Rovers’ 84-6 defeat at home to Wigan on Easter Monday and they bounced back in style yesterday afternoon.

It was a game Rovers simply could not afford to lose.

After the worst loss in their 131-year history on Monday, chairman Hudgell revealed in yesterday’s programme notes that he and the current board do not have the resources to take Rovers to the next big step.

“What the directors do at the present time is service debt and not have the actual resource to enable the club to take that next big step up,” Hudgell said.

“I am actively looking for that fresh investment now, without which Rob and I will definitely not be continuing beyond the end of the season.

“The Warriors game brought home to me once and for all a stark realisation that them and one or two other leading clubs are light years ahead of us in terms of resources, infra structure and support base,” Hudgell added.

“I think we are kidding ourselves at the moment that we can compete with them, unless we are able to attract fresh investment into the club.

“An acceptance of being a perennial mid-table team is not what we subscribe to, I’m afraid. The next few months are indeed a crucial time for us in very many respects.”

Rovers went in front as Michael Dobson passed to Greg Eden, who sent Dave Hodgson over in the corner for his ninth try of the season.

Dobson protected his hamstring by giving the kicking duties to Craig Hall, whose conversion rebounded off an upright.

But the Robins increased their lead when Josh Hodgson stretched out and scored from dummy half, with Hall converting.

Rovers were guilty of not defending properly on the blindside where Mark Percival was sent over the line by Tommy Makinson on the first tackle. Percival converted.

Percival’s second try of the game levelled matters three minutes before the interval, with Rovers winger Alex Brown caught coming inside, leaving a big gap for Percival to sprint clear to score from 35 metres. The youngster missed the conversion to send the sides in at the break level at 10-10.

Rovers went back in front when Cory Paterson was in the right place to take over Dobson’s clever assist. Hall landed the conversion to give Rovers a 16-10 lead.

Rovers were awarded a penalty 15 metres from the Saints’ line and when Eden’s pass outside went to ground, Adam Swift swooped to pick up the loose ball and sprint away.

Remarkably, Percival missed the conversion which was the easiest of his kicks up until then. It left Saints trailing 16-14 with 18 minutes to play.

Back came the Robins and on the right hand side of their attack, Greg Eden showed great hands to get the ball outside to his winger Alex Brown to score.

Hall’s conversion from the right-hand touchline went wide leaving six points between the two sides although the winger sealed victory with a last-minute penalty.

“I’m very pleased with the efforts of the players although it wasn’t pretty,” said Rovers coach Craig Sandercock.

“We didn’t execute as well as we would have liked. But it was a very gritty performance.”

Hull K R: Eden, D. Hodgson, Welham, Horne, Brown, Hall, Dobson, Tuimavave, J. Hodgson, Walker, Cox, Paterson, Mika. Substitutes: Lovegrove, Beaumont, Carlile, Paea.

St Helens: Makinson, Swift, Percival, Turner, Meli, Wellens, Wilkin, Clough, Howarth, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Soliola, Flanagan, Jones. Substitutes: Laffranchi, Walmsley, Greenwood, Hohaia.

Referee: B Thaler (Wakefield).