Betfred Super League
Hull KR (6) 6
Goals: Martin (3)
Wakefield (6) 20
Tries: Smith, Faatili (2) Goals: Smoothy (3)
Wakefield Trinity ended Super League champions Hull KR’s 11-game home winning run.
Harvey Smith’s early score and a second-half double from Caius Faatili were the difference for Trinity at Craven Park.
Rovers did not get going, failing to score a try as Rhyse Martin’s three penalty goals gave them their only points.
The Robins have lost further ground in the play-off race, having been beaten on their own patch for the first time in more than a year.
Trinity’s early pressure paid off when Smith found a gap and exploited it to cross from close range. But Tyson Smoothy failed to kick what should have been a straightforward conversion, hitting the post.
Rovers’ nightmare opening 13 minutes was compounded when Peta Hiku was sent to the sin-bin for a late, high tackle.
They levelled through Martin’s quick-fire penalty goals, while Trinity’s Ky Rodwell also entered the bin.
Two more kicks ended an extremely scrappy half – Smoothy restored Wakefield’s lead, but Martin kicked his third just before the buzzer.
Wakefield added a second try when Faatili overpowered full-back Ryan Hampshire on the line to force his way over, leaving Smoothy with a simple conversion.
The Robins could not contain Faatili as he forced his way over just before the hour, as more sloppy defensive play was punished. Smoothy, again, had an easy kick.
Mikey Lewis saw a try denied for a knock-on by Joe Burgess with 15 minutes remaining, and given Hull’s lack of potency, it seemed like a vital moment of the game.
Hull KR: Hampshire, Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess, Lewis, May, Sue, Lawton, Whitbread, Martin, Batchelor, Minchella
Interchanges: Litten, Broadbent, Luckley, Dezaria
Wakefield: Rourke, Walsmsley, Scott, Tate, Johnstone, Trueman, Smoothy, McMeeken, Smith, Rodwell, Storton, Vagana, Tevaga
Interchanges: Pitts, Hamlin-Uele, Faatili, Lawford
Referee: Chris Kendall.
