Hull KR were on the road for the second consecutive weekend as they travelled to Huddersfield to take on the Giants looking to capitalise on last weekends victory over the Widnes Vikings.
It is six years since Hull KR have recorded a victory in Huddersfield. A win tonight would give either side a massive lift as they push for the safety of the top eight before the split into three divisions.
Both coaches made a number of changes to last weeks line ups, some enforced, some tactical and with so much to play for it was likely to be a nervous affair. One side would settle well and have the great game, the other had a nightmare.
The Giants were off the mark after seven minutes when Oliver Roberts found a gap after intensive Huddersfield pressure, after taking a Danny Brough pass. Brough added the conversion for a 6-0 lead.
Five minutes later and KR registered their first points when Andrew Heffernan toook an Adam Quinlan pass and jinked his way past two Giants defenders to dive over the line. Ryan Shaw confidently kicked the extras to level the scores.
The double whammy came on the kick-off return when Heffernan again went down the right wing before releasing Quinlan on his inside to go ten metres and improve the angle to make the Shaw conversion a formality.
After being on the back foot early it was the visitors who started to enjoy the position and possession. After forcing a drop out, KR quickly earned a penalty and Shaw kicked the two points to extend the lead on thirty-three minutes.
Four minutes from the interval and Ryan Shaw won the race to slide over the line and ground the ball from a Quinlan grubber kick to the corner. Shaw slid the extras between the uprights, in off the near post for a 20-6 lead. KR had taken total control of the game.
Danny McGuire failed with an attempted drop goal on the half-time hooter but it was a KR side full of confidence who held their heads high as they went into the sheds.
The Giants had a much better start to the second half but it was KR who scored a length of the field try on sixty-four to seal the win. A Giants grubber was picked up close to the KR line by Robbie Mulhern who went eighty metres before he was tackled and offloaded to James Greenwood to walk the remaining ten metres and score. Shaw added the extras for 26-6.
Ryan Shaw got his second try on seventy-two following a Heffernan break over forty metres to expose the Giants defence and feed the winger for a clear run to the corner. He improved the angle for his own kick which he slotted between the uprights to take his personal haul to twenty points.
The icing on the cake was a Danny McGuire try, his first for his new club, after Shaw again made all the running and found the poacher extraordinaire in support to dive over. Shaw added the extras for a 38-6 win.
This was a comprehensive win for the Robins over a Giants side who had a particularly bad night at the office. Despite controlling the opening ten minutes the home side were taken apart in the rest of the game by a well drilled side who found the gaps all too easily and exploited some lacklustre tackling from the home side. Ryan Shaw had a great game for KR but there were plenty of other top performers as the visitors recorded their first win in Huddersfield for six years.
Giants: Rankin, McGillvary, Turner, Wood, Murphy, Gaskell, Brough (G), Ikahihifo, O’Brien, Ta’ai, Roberts (T), Ferguson, Hinchcliffe. Subs: Leeming, Clough, Dickinson, Mellor.
KR: Quinlan (T), Shaw (2T, 7G), Heffernan (T), Minns, Carney, McGuire (T), Atkin, Mulhern, Lawler, Masoe, Clarkson, Blair, Kavanagh. Subs: Scruton, Lee, Donaldson, Greenwood (T).
Referee: Ben Thaler.
Half-Time: 6-20.
Full-Time: 6-38.
Attendance: .
