Hull KR 16-20 London Broncos: Jay Pitts ensures relegation fight goes to final week
By Sky Sports Rugby League
Last Updated: 07/09/19 4:42pm
Jay Pitts’ try inside the final two minutes ensured London Broncos took the Super League relegation battle to the last week of the regular season with a 20-16 win over Hull Kingston Rovers.
Converted tries from Matty Gee and Brock Lamb along with a penalty from Kieran Dixon helped the Broncos into a 14-6 half-time lead at KCOM Craven Park.
Rovers hit back with a converted score from Ryan Shaw, but had to contend with serious injuries to Dean Hadley and Jimmy Keinhorst during the first 40 minutes.
A converted try from Chris Atkin and then a further score from wily old hand Danny McGuire - who retires at the end of the season - saw Rovers edge ahead soon after the restart, but Pitts snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for the visitors.
The result means Rovers are not safe from the drop and the Broncos will stay up if they claim a final-round victory at Wakefield Trinity next week.
London led inside the fourth minute when man-of-the-match Lamb's short pass sent Gee bustling over the line from close range.
Former Rovers winger Dixon added the conversion and moments later the hosts were dealt a blow when Hadley was hurt in a tackle and forced off with an injury to his left shoulder
The Broncos continued to look dangerous and scored a second try in the ninth minute when half-back Lamb and skipped past Josh Drinkwater and Craig Hall before racing over the line.
Dixon added the extras to leave the home crowd stunned, but Rovers gradually steadied themselves and began asking questions of their own.
They got off the mark in the 21st minute when a neat passing sequence stretched the away side inside the right channel and ended with Hall sending Dagger over in the corner.
Dagger scampered close to the posts before he touched down to ensure an easier conversion for Ryan Shaw, whose two-pointer cut London's advantage to six points
Rovers continued to probe and thought they had a second try when they worked the ball out to the left corner where Shaw touched down, but hooker Matt Parcell - back in the side after injury - was offside in the build-up and the score was ruled out by the video referee.
The Robins were then dealt another major injury blow when Keinhorst suffered a concussion in a tackle and, following lengthy treatment, he was carried off on a stretcher in the 29th minute.
Dixon added a penalty for the Broncos to put his side eight points clear at the interval. Yet Rovers, crucially, claimed the first score of the second half as they worked the space for Atkin to go over in the right corner.
Shaw's touchline conversion improved Atkin's try and five minutes later they scored again in the same spot as McGuire dived over the line.
Tensions mounted as the game wore on but London, who saw Dixon miss a penalty in the final quarter, snatched it when Lamb sent Pitts powering over in the dying minutes.
