A ten-minute spell down to 12 men proved critical as the Robins went down to a battling defeat to Warrington.

After grinding out an unspectacular win over the Catalans five days earlier, the Robins travelled to the Halliwell Jones Stadium to take on the Warrington Wolves. Centre Mike Ratu was handed a recall after Jake Webster aggravated a hip injury against the Dragons, while Jason Netherton started in place of Joel Clinton.

The Red and Whites were on the back foot early on against the Wolves, after three consecutive penalties handed the home side repeat sets on the Robins' line. However that early pressure came to nothing courtesy of a great piece of defence from Kris Welham, who picked up Matt King and dumped him over the sideline.

Rovers responded with their first attack of the game, but sheer weight of numbers prevented Liam Watts from getting the ball down after the youngster drove over from dummy half.

Another penalty allowed the home side to try their luck on the Robins' line again, but some superb scrambling defence on the last tackle by Shaun Briscoe held Chris Riley short.

The Wolves were looking dangerous as they looked to keep the ball alive at all costs, but the introduction of Joel Clinton swung the momentum Rovers' way, and they took full advantage.

The former Brisbane prop put the Red and Whites on the front foot, and Kris Welham touched down an inch-perfect Michael Dobson grubber.

Suddenly the home side were looking shaky, but with the Robins on the front foot again deep in Warrington territory, Ben Galea's long ball was picked off by Lee Briers, and he had the pace to run 90 metres to score.

Briers converted to put the home side ahead against the run of play, but the Red and Whites were working hard in defence to deny the home side a second score, with Welham's efforts to the fore.

Michael Monaghan's scoot from dummy half looked to have caught the Robins on the back foot, but with a gap in front of him, King juggled Monaghan's pass and Welham brilliantly flicked the ball up before re-gathering and racing out to the edge of his own quarter.

Then with half-time approaching, Vinnie Anderson broke through and offloaded out of Shaun Briscoe's tackle. Welham read the play to perfection though, tracking across the line to dive in and ground the bouncing ball behind his own line, keeping the Wolves at bay to the break.

Half-Time: Warrington Wolves 6      Hull KR 4

The Robins had put in a big defensive effort in the first half, and it quickly became apparent that another one would be needed in the second period as the Wolves got off to another fast start.

Great scrambling defence from the Red and Whites prevented Monaghan, Mickey Higham, and Lee Mitchell from touching down, but there was no relief for the Rovers' defence, and courtesy of a pair of highly dubious decisions from referee Ian Smith, the Wolves finally scored.

First, with a five-on-one overlap, Simon Grix hesitated and as the defence closed in, he tried to offload the ball, only to hand it straight to Scott Wheeldon. Referee Smith ruled that the ball had been stolen in a two-man tackle and handed the home side a repeat set.

Then just a matter of seconds later, he inexplicably dispatched Clint Newton to the sin-bin for what he ruled to be a grapple tackle.

That decision proved to be crucial, as the Wolves made the most of their slice of luck to run in three tries and put the game to bed.

Louis Anderson barged over from dummy half straight away, and three minutes later, King's break allowed Briers to touch down.

The Robins were clinging on by their fingertips to stay in the game, but Ryan Atkins touched down his own kick ahead to put the Red and Whites well and truly behind the eight ball.

However the men from East Hull were not going to give up without a fight, and from nowhere Ben Cockayne produced a dazzling break straight through the heart of the Warrington defence.

He was finally pulled down by Briers, and with the home side's defence still retreating, the Wolves player was penalised for slowing the play-the-ball down. Referee Smith opted not to yellow card him, but the Robins took advantage of a rare visit to the Warrington line.

Mick Vella was held up over the line, but on the next play, Dobson's cut-out ball put Mike Ratu over for a try which was just reward for a very solid defensive display in the centres.

Dobson converted, but on their next visit to Rovers territory, Briers slotted over a drop-goal to keep the Wolves more than two scores ahead, and Monaghan darted over six minutes from the end to make sure there would be no comeback from the Red and Whites.

The Robins still had not finished though, and Peter Fox's break straight from a drop-out set up the position for Ben Fisher to slice over from dummy half.

Dobson added the extras, but the last word went to the home side as King touched down with the final play of the game.

The Red and Whites had battled hard, but Newton's yellow card and too much defending cost them dear.

Full-Time: Warrington Wolves 35      Hull KR 16

Hull KR: 1. Shaun Briscoe; 2. Peter Fox, 15. Mike Ratu, 3. Kris Welham, 28. Ben Cockayne; 9. Scott Murrell, 7. Michael Dobson; 20. Mick Vella, 17. Ben Fisher, 16. Jason Netherton; 11. Clint Newton, 13. Ben Galea, 22. Liam Watts.

Replacements: 30. Joel Clinton, 21. Josh Hodgson, 10. Scott Wheeldon, 8. Rhys Lovegrove.

Warrington: 1. Richie Mathers; 5. Chris Hicks, 3. Matt King, 23. Ryan Atkins, 2. Chris Riley; 17. Simon Grix, 6. Lee Briers; 16. Paul Wood, 9. Michael Monaghan, 13. Ben Harrison; 11. Louis Anderson, 27. Vinnie Anderson, 26. David Solomona.

Replacements: 14. Mickey Higham, 18. Mike Cooper, 19. Lee Mitchell, 22. Tyrone McCarthy.

Referee: Mr I. Smith                Attendance: 9,216