Hull Kingston Rovers new-boy
Michael Dobson produced an impressive performance to help his side come
from behind to claim to a 22-8 victory over Harlequins.
The Australian joined from Canberra Raiders having had previous
spells with Wigan Warriors and Catalans Dragons and was handed his
first start at Craven Park.
And the 21-year-old showed some good touches on his debut and opened
his account with two tries as Rovers fought back from a half-time
deficit.
Rovers were dealt a blow in the sixth minute when Scott Murrell
appeared to injure a shoulder in a tackle and went straight down the
tunnel.
Rovers were caught offside a couple of times before going close in
the 13th minute when Dobson’s long kick was pushed dead by Ricky
Sheriffe.
Danny Orr’s drop out went straight into touch but Rovers decided to run the penalty without any reward.
Shaun Briscoe knocked on as he tried to intercept an inside pass
from Orr but the knock-on was enough to save an almost certain try.
However Harlequins took the lead in the 17th minute when Henry Paul
and Orr combined superbly to send in Michael Worrincy. Paul’s
conversion attempt went narrowly wide.
Dobson’s try levelled the scores when he forced his way past a
couple of defenders before reaching over the line for an unconverted
try.
Just before the break Jake Webster earned himself 10 minutes in the sin bin for rushing into a midfield squabble.
His loss proved costly as Harlequins took the ball up field from the
penalty and Hill sent in Grayshon for an unconverted try to see Quins
8-4 up at the break.
Rovers started the second half in determined fashion and a drive
downfield ended with Paul Cooke popping the ball up out of the tackle
for Chris Chester to score. Cooke’s conversion took Rovers 10-8 ahead.
Gareth Haggerty was placed on report for a high tackle on Briscoe and Randall sin-binned in the 53rd minute for holding down.
Stanley Gene hammered his way over on 58 minutes and Cooke’s conversion put Rovers 16-8 ahead,
And Dobson wrapped things up with his second try in the 79th minute converted by Cooke, following an initial break by Gene.
