Hull KR 24-22 St Helens
KR win opening game in style, over Anderson's Saints
Hull Kingston Rovers provided a shock at Craven Park on Sunday, when they beat Challenge Cup holders St Helens.
Hull KR fans will be rubbing their eyes continuously this week, expecting to wake up from a dream. Two years ago, the Humberside club were playing in National League One; now they're beating one of the best sides in the engage Super League.
St Helens coach Daniel Anderson was furious however, after watching his side have a try disallowed after the full-time siren for an earlier incident; had play been stopped, St Helens may have had a few seconds at least to get up field.
Running their opponents off the field
It could be said that the first half was virtually one way, as reflected by the half-time score of 16-6 to Hull KR.
It took seven minutes for KR to breach the normally strong St Helens defence. Jake Webster scooted over the whitewash; it looked to be going almost certainly one way when another new signing, Daniel Fitzhenry crossed, with both tries converted by Scott Murrell.
And it was turning into a one-way rout when Clint Newton scored to give Hull KR a 16-point lead. With the home side dominating, it turned out to be a culture shock when Keiron Cunningham barged his way over with just six first half minutes remaining to give Saints some hope of staging a comeback.
Second half blues for KR
Despite Shaun Briscoe restoring the 'Robins' sixteen point lead a minute after returning from the break, the try before half-time gave St Helens the belief they needed to go on and win the game.
And two tries in six minutes from Chris Flannery and Paul Clough, cut the gap to just six points, and Hull KR on the brink of a seemingly demoralising defeat from the claws of victory after outshining their opponents in the first half.
Steve Tyrer ensured the scores were level going into the last ten minutes, when he scored after 67 minutes, rekindling hopes of another St Helens comeback victory.
But a penalty to Hull KR gave Jake Webster the opportunity to restore the lead, something he was all to well delighted to do, increasing the gap between the two sides to two points.
Then the game was thrown into controversy, in a weekend of highly influential refereeing. Firstly Tyrer had the opportunity to ensure St Helens got a point out of the game, with a penalty goal. However, the youngster missed, meaning St Helens had to score from the 20m drop out - the final play of the game.
As the hooter sounded, St Helens passed the ball in a similar fashion to one of their play-off victories, where they snatched it at the death. Matt Gidley received the ball and dived over, only to find the try disallowed and the game brought back 40 metres for an earlier incident involving Lee Gilmour, where he passed the ball after the tackle had been made.
KR dominant force in Hull?
A competitive performance against Leeds last week, boded well for Hull KR. But to beat St Helens in such fashion provided a memorable victory, and potentially put KR in the driving seat for being the best side in Hull in 2008.
Certainly with rivals Hull FC struggling with injuries, and losing their opening game at Warrington, the four derby games between the rivals should make for exciting, thrilling and entertaining viewing.
