Warrington 40 Hull KR 26: Rovers fall short in fightback

Warrington survived a second-half revival by Hull KR to secure a 40-26 victory - their sixth Betfred Super League game unbeaten.
Hull KR head coach Tim SheensHull KR head coach Tim Sheens
Hull KR head coach Tim Sheens

The Wolves appeared to be coasting to victory as they led 22-2 at half-time, but the Robins claimed three tries in the opening nine minutes of the second half to cut the deficit to just two.

But the Wolves steadied the ship and tries from Tom Lineham, Stefan Ratchford and Ryan Atkins sealed victory.

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Ratchford finished with a personal tally of 16 points as he also added six conversions, while Jack Hughes claimed two tries, with others coming from Mike Cooper and Ben Currie.

Hull KR, who were rocked by an early knee injury to captain Shaun Lunt 90 seconds in, claimed tries through Chris Atkin, Maurice Blair, Danny McGuire and James Donaldson with Ryan Shaw kicking five goals.

Lunt’s withdrawal was a real blow, though his side did make the first move when Shaw kicked an early penalty.

After a somewhat lethargic start the Wolves gradually began to apply some pressure to the Rovers line, with Lineham ruled to have put a foot in touch as he went over in the corner and some excellent Hull KR defence held Currie up over the line.

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The pressure told as the home side claimed three tries in a devastating nine-minute spell to take a stranglehold on the game.

First, Cooper’s powerful charge close to the line saw the prop touch down under the posts and Ratchford converted to give the home side a 6-2 advantage.

And the Wolves followed that up with a quickfire second try four minutes later when Kevin Brown’s pass allowed Hughes to stroll through the Rovers defence to score his first, which Ratchford again converted.

Warrington’s dominance continued as they added a third try as Brown’s excellent pass allowed Currie to cross unopposed and Ratchford’s third conversion success stretched their lead to 18-2.

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In the final minute of the first half Warrington claimed their fourth try in controversial circumstances as Junior Vaivai appeared to ground a Roberts kick before Hughes touched down for his second try.

After consulting with his touch judge, referee Jack Smith awarded the try to give the Wolves a commanding 22-2 half time lead.

Rovers gave themselves hope of a dramatic comeback with a sensational start to the second half.

Two minutes after the break Atkin’s kick caused hesitation in the Warrington defence and Blair was first to react and pounce on the loose ball score.

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Four minutes later, another kick, this time by McGuire, deflected into the hands of Donaldson to score and Shaw added both conversion to cut the deficit to eight points.

And it got even better for the visitors when Vaivai made a superb break from deep and Atkin was in support to take the centre’s pass to score under the posts.

But the Wolves weathered the storm and three tries in seven minutes put the game out of Hull KR’s reach as Lineham, Ratchford and Atkins all touched down to seal the win. McGuire claimed a late consolation try for the visitors.