Hull Kingston Rovers

BACK WHERE WE BELONG

Hull kingston rovers 29 - Widnes Vikings 16


Hull Kingston Rovers regained their rightful place back in the countries top flight as they were crowned National League One Champions at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
The Robins preparations for their first grand final appearance couldn't have been better with a weekend in Cheshire and the Rovers team hit the dizzy heights of Super League after a perfect first half that blitzed their opposition into submission.
Any doubts that supporters or critics may have had about Rovers chances were quickly washed away as Rovers hit top gear from the off keeping the Vikings penned in their own half with a combination of strong running, astute kicking from Scott Murrell and James Webster and a wall of red and white defenders on all occasions.
Having forced Widnes to drop out Rovers turned their pressure into points, Ben Fisher spotted the gap worked the blindside and Jon Goddard put Byron Ford over for the first score.
Rovers could have extended the lead when Makali Aizue reached for the line moments later but the Papua New Guinean lost control before touching down and as the Robins continued to turn the screw more points were inevitable.
Webster's kicking once more forced drop outs and once more Rovers turned the repeat set into points as this time Webster's kick brought a try for Jon Goddard on the nod of the video referee after Damian Blanch and Sean Gleeson failed to defuse.
Try as they might Widnes were making little impact on the game and a refreshed Rovers continued to play at near perfection as they extended their lead to 16-0. Rovers were fortunate to be given the scrum in the Widnes quarter and as Ben Cockayne drove close, Scott Murrell finished off by powering over the line with Gareth Morton again accurate with the boot.
Widnes finally managed to find their attacking boots and a well worked move by Sean Gleeson and Damian Blanch called on some excellent cover play from Ben Fisher who was tackled in-goal but like the Robins had done earlier the Vikings turned their repeat set into points when Gavin Dodd crossed in the corner but any hopes of a Widnes comeback where shortlived.
With the first half drawing to a close Dwayne Barker saw the ball reefed one-on-one, Ben Cockayne picked up the loose ball and as Widnes froze expecting a knock-on the jinking run from the Rovers number 1 gave space for Jon Goddard to dive over in the corner with Morton's touchline conversion giving the Robins a comfortable 22-4 half-time lead.

Rovers may have come out for the second half expecting an early onslaught from the visitors but instead they were left to start as they'd finished. Scott Murrell's step on his own 30m line took him through the Widnes defence and with the Vikings at sixes and sevens James Webster's short pass hit Pat Weisner at steam as the loanee ghosted through the Widnes defence for a crucial score.
The Vikings continued to battle with so much at stake and a good build-up saw Ryan Tandy cross close to the posts but their efforts, especially those of hooker Mark Smith, were to no avail against the red and white troops.
Jon Goddard's dreams of a Grand Final hat-trick nearly came true as he slid into the corner but was ruled not to have grounded the ball by the video referee and then when Byron Ford put the ball inside only for Goddard to knock-on with the line at his mercy.
Rovers were starting to get into drop goal territory and when Damian Blanch crossed in the corner to put the Vikings just 10 points behind Pat Weisner and Scott Murrell both attempted the one-pointer as Murrell came up trumps.
One final effort from the Vikings saw Denis Morans grubber kick through trickle into touch and with just over a minute remaining on the clock the simple penalty as James Webster was taken out of the ball gave Gareth Morton the final kick of the game and the Robins final kick in their promotion exploits as the celebrations started!