ROBINS SHARE THE SPOILS WITH SAINTS

Jamie Foster's last-gasp penalty denied the Robins victory against St Helens.

After claiming their opening victory of Super League XVII the previous week, the Red and Whites welcomed St Helens to MS3 Craven Park for their first home game of the season.

Michael Dobson joined half-back partner Blake Green, club captain Ben Galea and new-boy Ryan O'Hara on the sidelines, so Scott Murrell slotted into the scrum-half role to share the ball-playing duties with Craig Hall.

That meant Liam Watts came in to make his first appearance of the campaign at loose-forward, with Rhys Lovegrove being named at stand-off.

The Robins opened up with some strong defence in the early minutes, but after David Hodgson had lost possession as he was upended by three Saints tacklers, the visitors opened the scoring.

Graeme Horne did well to stop Lance Hohaia on the line, but on the next play, James Roby found Jonny Lomax on the short side, and his flat pass put Sia Soliola over.

Four minutes later, another Rovers mistake presented St Helens with the opportunity to add to their lead, as referee Ben Thaler penalised Shannon McDonnell for dissent after the full-back felt he had been held down for too long.

Saints swiftly took full advantage, as they moved the ball wide through Lomax and Paul Wellens, allowing Michael Shenton to get on the outside of Kris Welham and plough over.

In typical St Helens style, the visitors moved quickly to make the most of their momentum, and three minutes later, Roby exposed some sloppy defence around dummy-half on the last tackle to race away and score.

Jamie Foster converted his side's third try in eight minutes, but the Red and Whites' rapid-fire response was just as ruthless.

Chris Flannery's optimistic offload presented possession and field position to the Robins, and they needed no second invitation, as David Hodgson was first to Lincoln Withers' grubber to get the touchdown.

Then after a Withers break from dummy-half, Paul Wellens was penalised for interference, and Con Mika charged onto a short ball, powering through Flannery and Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook to score.

MS3 Craven Park was rocking, and the Red and Whites were soon in front, after Ade Gardner failed to hold onto Soliola's pass with space in front of him.

The ball was moved wide from the scrum, allowing Jake Webster to attack Wellens and trap him at marker. Hall spotted that, and kicked long on only the second tackle, allowing the flying McDonnell to win the footrace to the bouncing ball and touch down.

Hall booted all three conversions to put Rovers ahead, but his knock-on handed the visitors their first good field position since the first quarter, and it proved costly, as Hohaia found Flannery on an angled run which took him over under the posts.

Foster again slotted the extras, but the Robins were in no mood to let their momentum be stopped, and another Withers grubber was chased hard by McDonnell. He was run off the ball by a St Helens defender, but no-one spotted Josh Hodgson racing through, and he dived in between two Saints to ground the ball.

Hall added the conversion, and the Red and Whites went into the break with a deserved lead.

Half-Time: Hull KR 24 St Helens 20

After a dazzling comeback, the Robins were firmly in the contest, but the spectre of their slow start to the first period reared its head again in the early stages of the second half.

Saints were looking lively, and their offloads and ball movement were causing Rovers problems, and after the tackle count had been restarted, a drop-out gave the visitors a third consecutive set and allowed Tony Puletua to offload and send Francis Meli over.

Then after another drop-out five minutes later, Hohaia's long pass allowed Paul Wellens to cut back inside and reach out to score.

Foster converted, but just as in the first half, the Robins hit back quickly, after a Soliola knock-on presented them with good field position.

Jordan Cox went close before the ball was moved wide to Hall, and he produced a lovely short ball to send a rampaging Mika through a gap and past Wellens to score.

Hall added the extras, Cox was soon in the action again, as a strong carry from the young forward earned the Robins a penalty from the experienced duo of Flannery and Anthony Laffranchi.

That put the Red and Whites on the attack, and after Cox had been brought down just short again, Scott Murrell took the ball down the short side. He found Graeme Horne, who burst through a hole before offloading for the supporting Kris Welham to touch down.

Hall converted again, but as the game continued to ebb and flow, the Saints went back on the offensive, turning the screw on a Rovers side which was beginning to pick up yet more injuries.

Withers was forced off with a groin problem, and Mika was limping heavily, but the Red and Whites were digging deep in defence for a second week running.

With only eight minutes left, Wellens looked as though he had unlocked Rovers' defence, only for Scott Taylor and Rhys Lovegrove to produce a superb last-ditch tackle on the try line and force the Saints full-back to knock-on.

The Robins were still struggling to release the pressure on their own line, and their injury problems were going from bad to worse, as Lovegrove took a second heavy blow to the head in stopping Wellens, Josh Hodgson had to be helped off after twisting his ankle, and McDonnell was also hurt in trying to prevent Meli from ploughing over wide out.

The full-back was unsuccessful though, and his score cut Rovers' lead to just two points going into the final six minutes.

Saints had the bit firmly between their teeth now, as the Robins were battered, bruised and almost out on their feet, but they continued to scramble and keep the visitors at bay.

Then, in the final minute, Rovers' appeals for a high tackle by Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook in front of the posts were ignored, but Murrell managed to force a drop-out that looked to have secured the game for the Red and Whites. However a short restart allowed St Helens to recover possession and launch one final attack.

McCarthy-Scarsbrook broke clear and took play into the Robins' half, and only seconds after turning down the Robins' claims for a high shot, referee Ben Thaler penalised Mickey Paea for a high tackle on Tony Puletua.

That left Foster with a 30-metre kick to tie the scores with the last kick of the game, and he kept his cool to deny the Robins a win their effort, determination and bravery had probably deserved.

Full-Time: Hull KR 36 St Helens 36

Hull KR: 1. Shannon McDonnell; 2. Craig Hall, 3. Kris Welham, 4. Jake Webster, 5. David Hodgson; 13. Rhys Lovegrove, 19. Scott Murrell; 8. Joel Clinton, 14. Lincoln Withers, 23. Mickey Paea; 11. Con Mika, 18. Graeme Horne, 15. Liam Watts.

Replacements: 22. Scott Wheeldon, 10. Scott Taylor, 9. Josh Hodgson, 20. Jordan Cox.

St Helens: 1. Paul Wellens; 2. Ade Gardner, 3. Michael Shenton, 5. Francis Meli, 22. Jamie Foster; 6. Lance Hohaia, 7. Jonny Lomax; 14. Anthony Laffranchi, 9. James Roby, 11. Tony Puletua; 13. Chris Flannery, 4. Sia Soliola, 12. Jon Wilkin.

Replacements: 8. Josh Perry, 10. Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 19. Andrew Dixon, 17. Gary Wheeler.

Referee: Mr B. Thaler

Attendance: 7,610

Posted on 19, Feb, 2012