Hull KR 28 Bradford 18: Two-try Lovegrove proves to be Robins’ saviour

Both Hull KR and Bradford Bulls are fighting to get into the top eight to secure their place in the end-of-season jamboree.

Rovers duly got the victory which sees them nudge into eighth spot – though rivals St Helens are in action at Huddersfield tonight – and they now trail seventh-placed Bradford only by points difference.

But on this error-ridden form neither would truly prove a good advert for Super League when it comes to the business end and it is easy to see why so many people believe the concept needs to be narrowed to the competition’s leading six or even fewer.

It was Craig Sandercock’s side who eventually pulled away at the end, finally capitalising on their opponents’ mistakes, something they had failed to do in the first half.

Lincoln Withers put them ahead for the first time in the 64th minute, the Australian hooker adding another after Craig Hall had also crossed for Hull KR to help extinguish the painful memories of that Magic Weekend video referee fiasco against Hull FC.

“It was an ugly win but six weeks ago we’d have probably lost that game,” offered Rovers assistant Chris Chester, who admitted durable two-try second-row Rhys Lovegrove had been key to the success.

“His form over the last three weeks has helped us. It was touch and go whether he was going to play but he put his hand up yesterday and had another strong performance.”

The Australian had had to be helped off with a knee injury last Saturday but was Rovers’ best player yesterday, his second try in the 55th minute keeping them in touch at 12-10 though the Bradford defence had been poor.

That was unusual as, for the large part, the Bulls protected their line with real venom and it had just been their prolific handling errors and benign kicking game that had left them in such dire straits.

In fairness, they also lost Chev Walker (knee), John Bateman (dead leg) and Jarrod Sammut (dead leg) to injuries restricting their options towards the end.

When Keith Lulia’s try put them 12-4 ahead up after 51 minutes, they looked well-set only to then make a glaring handling error in the next set which allowed Lovegrove to benefit.

Bradford have now lost five of their last six Super League games and coach Francis Cummins admitted: “I’m probably sick of saying we’ve got character and effort.

“We had them (Rovers). We had them but came up with that error on play one.

“We got ourselves in a position today, scored a good try but then we give them another chance. We threw it away.”

The first half was pretty dreadful. There had been one moment of real class which furnished Sammut with his 18th try of the season but that had come as early as the eighth minute and there was little further excitement.

He had darted blind 30m from the Rovers line and enticed a defender to slip Lulia away with his fellow Australian then, as he diced with touch, producing a stunning flick pass back to Sammut who rounded off between the posts.

Sammut converted and added a 35th-minute penalty but there was none of his usual flamboyance on show as Bradford found themselves defending for most of the half.

That was largely down to their ill-discipline – the penalty count read 7-1 against them at the half hour mark – but, still, they remained organised and well-structured to limit Rovers’ chances.

The only time they were breached was after some continuous pressure when Lovegrove – denied moments earlier when Luke Gale ripped possession in a two-man tackle – strode through the Bradford scrum-half and Matty Blythe.

Michael Dobson hit the post with the conversion attempt but with Gale and Sammut both directing downfield kicks into touch on the full they were soon invited back in.

Frustratingly, however, Hull KR repeatedly lacked any incision or composure and they trailed 8-4 at the break.

Early in the second period, Rovers centre Liam Salter was called upon to just force Michael Platt into the corner flag after a brilliant long pass from Gale but after Alex Brown made another Rovers handling error, they did extend their lead with a rare slick passing sequence which saw Lulia cross.

But then came that costly mistake to gift Lovegrove his second and soon Dobson’s chip was collected by Burns to provide Withers his first.

Dobson added the extras once more and the scrum-half had to fight desperately to keep Elliott Whitehead from going over as Bradford looked to quickly counter.

They should have done that when they fortuitously got an extra set in the Rovers 20 but Kearney unfathomably kicked early and directly at Dobson who picked up the ricochet to scurry clear.

Hall took over from halfway to gain his 11th try of the year and when Bradford’s short re-start backfired Withers scampered in untouched for his second of the afternoon, Dobson improving each time meaning Michael Platt’s score, converted by Gale in the last minute, was mere consolation.

Hull KR: Eden; Brown, Salter, Hall, D Hodgson; Burns, Dobson; Paea, J Hodgson, Walker, Horne, Lovegrove, Mika. Substitutes: Withers, Beaumont, Cox, Tuimavave.

Bradford: Kearney; Kear, Blythe, Lulia, Platt; Sammut, Gale; Scruton, L’Estrange, Langley, Bateman, Whitehead, Walker. Substitutes: Addy, O’Brien, Evans, Sidlow.

Referee: R Hicks (Oldham).