The Robins have moved up to third in the Super League table
Jack Broadbent of Hull KR celebrating his try with Mikey Lewis of Hull KR
Hull KR bounced back to winning ways as they put York Knights to the sword with a 38-6 victory at Craven Park.
The Robins had to come from behind to get the job done against their round one conquerors, but they went on to score seven unanswered tries to seal what was ultimately a commanding win.
Tom Davies scored twice for Rovers, while Mikey Lewis, Joe Burgess, James Batchelor, Jack Broadbent and Rhyse Martin also scored to push KR up to third in the Super League table, leapfrogging St Helens and Wakefield Trinity, who lost heavily to Wigan Warriors this evening, along the way.
After a frustrating couple of weeks, with losses coming at Wembley and in Wakefield, Rovers would have been desperate to get off to a fast start against the Knights on Friday night.
It didn’t come and they actually fell behind as Jon Bennison collected a short Mikey Lewis drop out before weaving through some poor Rovers defence and over the line.
KR hit back following Tom Inman’s knock on inside his own half though, with Willie Peters’ side throwing some shape off the back of the scrum to put Tom Davies away from 30 metres.
And, to put any fears of lightning striking twice against York to bed, KR began to pull away.
Davies had a try ruled out for obstruction but the home side didn’t have to wait long to see KR take the lead legitimately through Mikey Lewis, who finished a lovely team move by rounding Sam Wood with a burst of pace to touch down.
Five minutes later, Joe Burgess was in and it came on the back of Tevita Pangai’s first carry in a Rovers jersey. The powerful middle made a strong impression in the first half at Craven Park and his first play the ball led to Rovers looking left and Burgess squeezing over in the corner.
James Batchelor wrapped up the first half scoring just before the break with his supporting run being rewarded by Peta Hiku who powered through the challenge of Kieran Buchanan before putting his back-rower over.
Hiku grabbed another assist just after the restart, shifting the ball well to give Davies the opportunity to grab an acrobatic second.
Tyrone May had a great game against the Knights and he was the man who set up KR’s sixth with a moment of magic, slipping through the line with a show and go before putting the supporting Jack Broadbent away.
Rhyse Martin showed a turn of pace to get himself on the scoreboard with a fine try and that was enough to put the finishing touches on the win Rovers needed on home soil.