Hull KR 37-10 Huddersfield: Hosts boost top-eight hopes
By Press Association
Last Updated: 30/06/18 5:52pm
Hull KR kept their hopes alive of mounting a late charge into Super League's top eight with a 37-10 home destruction of in-form Huddersfield Giants.
Second-bottom Rovers were irresistible as they stormed over for six tries, with winger Ryan Shaw leading the way with two tries and six goals against a Giants side who had won heir last five league games.
The eye-catching scoreline also helped the hosts move four points behind their eighth-placed opponents.
Rovers were the dominant force throughout the opening period and were full value for their 12-4 interval advantage.
Huddersfield may have been the first to strike, with hesitancy in the Rovers defence from an Oliver Russell kick giving Darnell McIntosh the simplest of touchdowns in the 15th minute, but that was a rare spell of Giants pressure.
It was a score that was totally against the run of play, and it was no surprise when the hosts took the lead in the 30th minute.
Soft hands close to the Huddersfield tryline created space for Joel Tomkins to mark his first home game for the club following his move from Wigan to plunge over from close range, and Shaw added the conversion to nudge the Robins 6-4 ahead.
And within four minutes they had doubled their tally as Robbie Mulhern's strong dive to the line and neat offload gave the supporting Adam Quinlan a walk-in.
The home side continued where they left off at the start of the second half by going straight back on to the attack and added their third converted try three minutes into the period when Junior Vaivai dived over in uncompromising fashion.
At this stage, it was all one-way traffic, with Mulhern breaking clear just inside the visitors' half and feeding Quinlan once again for the full-back to race over for his second. Shaw's fourth conversion made it 24-4 after 47 minutes.
Quinlan then turned provider for his side's fifth by giving Shaw just enough space to finish off neatly in the corner and then add the touchline goal.
Shaw had only to wait three minutes to cross for his second as Vaivai teased the Giants defence and fed his winger to finish off for another try he converted from out wide.
Huddersfield did deserve some credit for refusing to wave the white flag and grabbed their second try as Aaron Murphy force his way over from close range with eight minutes remaining, which was converted by Russell.
But it was inevitably the Robins who had the last word with Chris Atkin's 79th-minute drop goal.
