Round 25
Warrington Wolves 34 l. Hull KR 36

2008 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

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

Hull KR remarkable fightback to topple Wolves
Mon August 18, 2008
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Hull Kingston Rovers staged a remarkable fightback to beat Warrington Wolves 36-34 and dent their top-four hopes in the engage Super League.

Rovers, with little to play for but pride, looked down and out when they trailed 34-18 with eight minutes left.

However the visitors came back from the dead to stun the Wolves with England winger Peter Fox crossing twice and Kris Welham latching onto Paul Cooke's kick to level the scores in injury time, with Michael Dobson coolly striking the match-winning conversion from near the touchline.

Simon Grix had earlier grabbed a try double as Warrington looked set to sweep to their eighth victory in engage Super League 10 matches since Jimmy Lowes took over as boss from Paul Cullen.

The Wolves, agonisingly pipped 17-16 at St Helens last week, included Paul Wood on the bench for his first match since he suffered a serious shoulder injury against Catalans in March.

Wood impressed alongside Rob Parker and the non-stop Ben Westwood, who landed the man-of-the-match award.

Hull KR named the same 17 that slumped to a 40-16 home defeat by Harlequins RL with Paul Cooke making his second successive comeback appearance on the bench.

Warrington had already beaten Hull KR twice this season and made the perfect start with Michael Monaghan and Lee Briers combining for Matt King's inside pass to put Chris Hicks over after four minutes.

But Rovers were ahead 8-4 with a Michael Dobson penalty and Jake Webster's converted try after Makali Aizue's surge set up the chance for Ben Galea to provide the decisive pass.

Rovers paid a heavy price for Welham being placed on report for a tackle on Chris Riley with Briers dummying his way through from the penalty.

Hicks booted the conversion but Rovers were back in front 12-10 when Welham latched onto Dobson's smart kick.

Welham was again the villain with another crunching but illegal tackle on Riley, who went off injured, and Westwood surged onto Jon Clarke's pass for the third Wolves try.

Warrington took a firmer grip on the contest and led 22-12 at the break with substitute Ben Cockayne spilling the ball with his first touch and Martin Gleeson shooting through straight from the scrum, Hicks adding his third goal.

Grix's first try soon after the restart sent Rovers sliding towards their eight defeat in their last 10 matches and prompted the arrival of Cooke.

Rovers, playing with far more spirit than against Quins, cut the gap to 10 points with a Cockayne try from Galea's kick.

But Briers' 40-20 set up the chance for Monaghan to put Grix over for his second touchdown. Rovers then grabbed a 74th-minute try through Fox from Kevin Penny's blunder.

Fox sprinted 70 metres for his second try after Welham pounced on a loose ball before the latter bagged the decisive try after a surging Shaun Briscoe midfield break.

Report Source: www.superleague.co.uk

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