Dewsbury 6(0) v 48 (24) Hull Kingston Rovers
By Ben Guzdek
League leaders Hull Kingston Rovers extend their winning streak, but their latest victims Dewsbury Rams continue to struggle in the latest fixture in the Kingstone Press Championship.
Dewsbury Rams started with fullback Josh Guzdek who made his second spell since coming off injured in the Boxing Day fixture against Batley Bulldogs. The Rams have yet to gain a point this season and are only above Bradford Bulls.
Ben Cockayne started on the wing, he made his 300th career appearance and has been a loyal servant to KR since leaving Wakefield Trinity in 2014. The red robins have been undefeated since being relegated from the Betfred Super League, they rest comfortably in the front seat for the title.
The home side got the first half underway and began pressing the away side in the opening set.
Rovers were able to make a lot of ground when they were in possession, they scored the first try of the day in the seventh minute from hooker Shaun Lunt, who was able to punish Dewsburys defence who switched off when they were defending their tryline.
Dewsbury had their opportunity minutes later when Guzdek chased the grubber ball set up by Dewsbury centre Jason Crookes but the ball fell out of bounds.
In the second quarter of the game, Rovers were able double their lead as the ball fell to second row James Greenwood. Centre Andrew Hefferman scored just minutes. Both tries were scored on the right wing where Rams lacked the numbers to hold the leaders.
Rovers maintained their lead from second rower Maurice Blair in the closing minutes. It would seem their opposition lacked the confidence in the first half.
The first half closed with Rovers in front with four converted tries, making the second half very tough for the home side who have struggled to score points this season.
sixteen minutes into the slow second half and it was Rovers who’ve again extended their lead through Robert Mulhern who’s come off the bench at the half time interchange. Minutes later Hefferman scored his second try of the game as he flanked the wing, stepped pass Guzdek to finish under the sticks.
Final quarter of the game and Loose Forward James Donaldson scores the seventh try of the game, safe to say it’s been game over for a while. It took Rams seventy minutes to score their opening try of the game from prop forward Keegan Hirst. It took some good quality rugby to break Hull KR’s clean sheet.
With a few minutes to go Graeme Horne scores the eighth and final try of the game, concluding a dominant performance for the league leaders.
The referee Tom Grant blew the whistle which concluded the match that most would say it was men against boys, Hull Kingston Rovers once again showing their a force to be reckoned with.
Today's MOTM was Josh Guzdek
— Dewsbury Rams 🐑 (@DewsburyRams) March 12, 2017
Reaction:
Glenn Morrison – Head coach, Dewsbury Rams
Tim Sheens – Head coach, Hull Kingston Rovers