Round 12
Hull KR 16 l. Huddersfield Giants 28

2007 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Huddersfield make it five wins on the trot
Sat April 28, 2007
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

In-form Huddersfield Giants ruined Paul Cooke's homecoming with a win over Hull Kingston Rovers at Craven Park, earning themselves a fifth straight engage Super League win.

Although coach of the month for April Jon Sharp will be aggrieved that his side's latest success will not court the majority of the headlines, there is little denying that Cooke's debut for his boyhood club was the story of the night.

After having his switch from bitter rivals Hull FC sanctioned by the RFL late in the afternoon, coach Justin Morgan wasted little time in slotting the stand-off into the halves alongside skipper James Webster.

Handed the goal-kicking and play-making duties, Cooke did not disappoint the near 7,000 crowd, with a performance rich in composure and creativity, the two facets of Rovers' game that have often gone awry in their maiden top-flight season.

It was not enough to prevent Huddersfield securing the win though, with a performance owing largely to the durability and efforts of their pack, in particular John Skandalis and Chris Nero.

Tries from Stephen Wild and Jamahl Lolesi late in the second half rescued the situation after they had trailed 16-12.

After a boisterous start in which Luke Dyer wasted two good opportunities for the home side, it was the visitors who opened the scoring with a quickfire double.

First, Stuart Jones pounced after Kevin Brown's pass, before Brad Drew punched through Webster's attempted tackle to feed the onrushing Andy Raleigh for a second. Chris Thorman converted both.

Cooke's kicking game maintained Rovers' presence in the tie though and, after a penalty, they opened their try account in the 21st minute when Webster and Cooke combined with Ben Cockayne to send Andreas Bauer crashing over.

The new signing added a touchline goal and then a penalty to close the gap but Jason Netherton's knock-on after Cooke had regained possession from a goalline drop-out saw Huddersfield lead 12-8 at the break.

Cooke almost sent Chris Chester into a gap after the restart, with his former Hull team-mate knocking on, before the latter atoned for his error with a well-executed 40-20 kick.

From the subsequent set of six, Stanley Gene - possibly the fall guy of Cooke's arrival - barged over in typically rugged fashion to level the scores. A Cooke conversion and penalty opened up a four-point lead.

Thorman then chose the wrong option when seemingly through as Huddersfield, led by the excellent Drew, began to come back.

As a result, it was no surprise when Wild's try after Jon Goddard's misjudgment and Thorman's touchline goal put them back in front.

With Rovers given no choice but to force the issue, their case was not helped by the sin-binning of Mark O'Neill with nine minutes remaining for an off-the-ball incident.

Lolesi then completed proceedings with a simple try as Rovers struggled for numbers in defence, with Thorman adding two penalties for good measure.

Hull Kingston Rovers (8) 16
Tries: Bauer, Gene
Goals: Cooke 4

Huddersfield Giants (12) 28
Tries: Jones, Raleigh, Wild, Lolesi
Goals: Thorman 6

Hull Kingston Rovers: Cockayne, Hardman, Dyer, Goddard, Bauer, Cooke, Webster, Aizue, Fisher, Vella, Chester, O'Neill, Gene.
Replacements: Ward, Gannon, J. Netherton, Lennon.

Huddersfield Giants: Thorman, Reilly, Lolesi, Wild, Aspinwall, Drew, Brown, Mason, Hudson, Skandalis, Nero, Raleigh, Jones.
Replacements: Crabtree, Jackson, Griffin, Snitch.

Referee: P Bentham
Attendance: 6,597

Report source: www.superleague.co.uk

Article Morgan happy with Cooke but not defeat

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