Rovers recorded their first home win in almost two months, thanks to a great defensive display and a brace of tries from Liam Colbon and Kris Welham.

The Robins returned to Craven Park after their visit to Perpignan, intent on rediscovering their winning form against the Bradford Bulls. Coach Justin Morgan was again able to call on the services of Liam Colbon, who had been out of action since the start of June with a rib injury sustained against Huddersfield. Jake Webster recovered from a sickness bug to re-take his place in the side, whilst on-loan Wakefield prop Kyle Bibb was given his debut in Red and White from the bench.

On a perfect afternoon for rugby, the game got off to a lively start, with Bradford testing the Robins' defence out early, and the Red and Whites diffusing the danger and breaking away themselves.

Paul Deacon's cross-field kick was knocked down by Rikki Sheriffe and Kris Welham pounced, racing into Bulls territory before being brought down. However, with the Bradford defence still recovering, the Robins' momentum was emphatically stopped by a shuddering hit from Nick Scruton.

Bradford had started the brighter of the two sides, and opened the scoring ten minutes in. Terry Newton dummied and broke through, and Dave Halley was on his inside to touch down. Deacon converted, and his 40-20 a couple of minutes later again threatened the Rovers line, only for Ben Jeffries to spill possession.

That let off allowed the Robins to build some pressure, and they wasted no time in getting back on level terms. Michael Dobson's perfectly weighted chip to the in-goal area held up, and while Halley and Jeffries stood and watched, Scott Murrell dived in to touch down. Dobson converted but five minutes later, the Bulls took the lead again.

Deacon's break allowed Michael Worrincy to go over, but the scrum half had to leave the field after taking a blow to the head as he passed the ball. Paul Sykes stepped up to add the extras, but without their talisman, Bradford's lead began to look tenuous and the Robins took full advantage.

Dobson's long ball allowed Jake Webster to get outside Jeffries, and put Liam Colbon over at the corner, and although the conversion drifted wide, the Robins took the lead just before the break.

Again Dobson was the architect, delicately kicking through for Peter Fox to collect and send Kris Welham over. Dobson converted to put the Red and Whites in the driving seat at half time.

Half-Time: Hull KR 16      Bradford Bulls 12

The Bulls started the second half just as they began the first, dominating the early stages and giving the Robins' defence a thorough test, with only some great last ditch tackles keeping them at bay.

Shaun Briscoe was called upon twice in the space of three minutes to keep the Rovers line intact. First the full-back was managed to get underneath the rampaging Jamie Langley to prevent him grounding the ball, and then he got across to force Rikki Sheriffe into touch as he headed for the corner.

That allowed the Robins to escape from their own quarter, and they immediately made the Bulls pay for not taking their chances. Paul Cooke's perfectly judged grubber bounced up into the path of Kris Welham for the youngster's second try, and ten minutes later, the Red and Whites took a big step towards what would be a crucial win.

Having shown his importance in defence, Briscoe then showed his value in attack. The full-back appeared to be tackled by two defenders, only to escape their clutches and catch the Bulls defence off guard. While Bradford were getting their line set, believing that Briscoe was held, the full-back raced through a gaping hole in the defence. Daniel Fitzhenry was in support, and Ben Galea and Clint Newton combined to put Liam Colbon over to complete his brace.

The Bulls, aided by the return of Paul Deacon, were pressuring the Robins' defence, only to come up with a string of mistakes, and with ten minutes left, Dobson added a penalty to put the game beyond the visitors.

A sense of confidence had begun to return to the Red and Whites, and they finished the game in style. Newton burst through two defenders, found Galea, and his neat flick allowed Fitzhenry to race over. Dobson converted, to complete the win and leave coach Justin Morgan satisfied with his side's display.

"We've lost a couple of close games, and it was really important for our confidence factor, and I think you saw that in the last ten or fifteen minutes of the game," Morgan said.

"Even though most probably the game was put to bed by that stage, we just played with a little bit more freedom, a few offloads and stuff, and I think it was most probably a sigh of relief.

"It was a close game in the first 40 minutes, and then we came out and dictated really, even though we most probably had no right to.

"Straight from the kick-off they got the ball back and they got a number of penalties, but we held nice and tight and had some of our decisiveness back in defence, which was good."

Full-Time: Hull KR 32      Bradford Bulls 12

Hull KR: 1. Shaun Briscoe; 2. Peter Fox, 4. Jake Webster, 19. Kris Welham, 5. Liam Colbon; 6. Paul Cooke, 7. Michael Dobson; 20. Mick Vella, 9. Ben Fisher, 18. Scott Wheeldon; 11. Clint Newton, 12. Ben Galea, 13. Scott Murrell.

Replacements: 3. Chev Walker, 15. Daniel Fitzhenry, 29. Kyle Bibb, 24. Rhys Lovegrove.

Bradford: 20. Dave Halley; 2. Rikki Sheriffe, 3. Paul Sykes, 4. Chris Nero, 5. Semi Tadulala; 6. Ben Jeffries, 7. Paul Deacon; 10. Andy Lynch, 9. Terry Newton, 17. Nick Scruton; 16. Michael Worrincy, 13. Jamie Langley, 8. Sam Burgess.

Replacements: 15. Matt Cook, 11. Steve Menzies, 14. Wayne Godwin, 19. Craig Kopczak.

Referee: Mr I. Smith          Attendance: 8,206