London Broncos 18-58 Hull KR: Jamie Peacock makes winning return as Rovers cruise to victory
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 12/09/16 2:15pm
Hull KR kept their hopes of avoiding the Million Pound Game alive by cruising to a 58-18 win at London Broncos on Jamie Peacock's return to the field.
Rovers head of rugby Peacock came out of retirement this week and carried the ball well after coming on half an hour in but it was hat-trick hero Thomas Minns who was the star of the show.
The visitors' blistering first 15 minutes left London chasing a 24-point deficit and despite a fightback of sorts in the second half, they were comfortably beaten.
Victory takes Hull up to third, level on points with fourth-placed Huddersfield, with the top three guaranteed Super League rugby next season.
Rovers made busts in their early sets with Josh Mantellato taking advantage of the space out wide, storming down the wing only to be tackled 10 metres from the line. Returning captain Terry Campese's inch-perfect kick was cleanly taken by Minns for the opening score.
Just minutes later, Rovers' sustained pressure in the opposition's half allowed Campese to kick well once more and Minns again climbed highest to score his second.
Rovers continued to penetrate and, after 10 minutes, Mantellato's audacious one-handed offload to the supporting Ben Cockayne gave Rovers their third try.
After the restart, Campese sliced through the hosts' defence from deep to gain 40 metres, two phases later Kieran Dixon went over the corner to open up a 24-point lead.
Despite their lack of possession and territory during the opening 20-minute onslaught, Broncos soon found their groove.
Two fruitful sets of six gave them good field position and a blind offload was claimed by Alex Walker who crashed over from 10 metres out, much to the delight of the London crowd.
The home support was soon in raptures when a strong period of play resulted in a deft kick from scrum-half Jamie Soward and was touched down by James Cunningham under the posts.
But Hull retook control in the second half. A couple of slick offloads gave them a way through the hosts' defence, with James Greenwood scoring to build on their lead, but Mantellato missed his first attempt at goal of the afternoon.
Five minutes later Matty Marsh manipulated the Broncos defence, dipped through a gap and side-stepped the onrushing last man to complete a scorching solo try.
With 25 minutes to play, Broncos hit back with William Barthau diving over the whitewash from close range but any hopes of a fightback were soon extinguished when Campese burst through the lacklustre defence, drew the last man and sent James Donaldson over.
A minute later, Shaun Lunt broke two tackles and unselfishly passed to Marsh, who ran in under the sticks.
Rovers' sustained pressure, despite spirited defence from Broncos, eventually told once again when Marsh's kick was spilled by Barthau, gifting Will Jubb the easiest of scores.
Broncos and Rovers then exchanged sets in the middle of the pitch, before Minns completed his treble.
