Welham leads rout of Bulls

Welham: Ran in three tries in rout of Bradford

Kris Welham inspired Hull KR to a 46-18 rout of Bradford that means Rovers leapfrog their struggling opponents in the table.

Centre Welham grabbed a superb hat-trick of tries as the Bulls collapsed after a bright opening to slump to a sixth Super League game without a win.

Full-back Shaun Briscoe returned to the starting line-up for the hosts after recovering from a knee injury that had caused a six-match lay-off.

For the visitors, coach Mick Potter handed Ben Jeffries his first start since the half-back re-signed for the Bulls from Wakefield.

And the Australian, who was a key player at Odsal between 2007 and 2009, took only four minutes to make an impact on his second 'debut' for Bradford at New Craven Park.

Perfectly lofted

The 30-year-old's perfectly lofted kick caused confusion in the Rovers back line, and although Bradford second-rower Ian Sibbit could only fumble the ball backwards, Kyle Briggs was on hand to touch down from close range.

A knock-on from Bulls loose forward James Donaldson 15 metres from his own line soon handed Hull KR the initiative, though, and from the following set Michael Dobson slipped a pass to Welham, who found a route to the try line.

Three minutes later, the same pair combined again in identical fashion as Welham registered his second try, although Dobson's resulting conversion from a tough angle drifted wide.

Australian stand-off Blake Green then raced through a gaping hole in Bradford's static defence to extend the home side's advantage.

However, an error from the same player straight from the restart gave the visitors a penalty, and the influential Jeffries found winger Gareth Raynor with a cut-out pass to reduce the deficit.

Green's action-packed half then took a turn for the better as he found centre Jake Webster for a third try in six minutes, and shortly after Dobson brushed off the attentions of some weak tackling to stretch for the line as the home side opened up a 16-point lead.

Bombardment

The hosts' bombardment continued in the second half as Webster decided to run on the sixth tackle and offloaded to Peter Fox, who in turn found Liam Watts back on the inside for a simple try.

With the Robins' lead already looking unassailable, the Bulls finally found some momentum going forward.

Prop Andy Lynch barged over after Craig Kopczak had been held up inches short of the line, and then Elliott Whitehead spilled the ball as Bradford looked certain to score again.

Jeffries went close with a superb solo run, but the Bulls' hopes of an unlikely comeback were curtailed by the unstoppable Welham, who profited from excellent work from Ben Cockayne to complete his hat-trick just before the hour mark and take his try-scoring tally in all competitions to 15 for the season.

The hosts came close to further tries late on, but Fox was denied a length-of-the-field interception effort by Shad Royston and then Matt Cook's celebrations were cut short by referee Richard Silverwood after Cockayne had knocked on.

However, Fox was given a simple opportunity to complete the rout by Webster, who ploughed to the line and offloaded to the supporting England international with three minutes remaining.