Last-gasp Rovers claim derby spoils

Shannon McDonnell
27 May 2012

Winger David Hodgson struck in the last move of the match to give Rovers a dramatic 32-30 victory in the 216th Hull derby and maintain their 100% record over their arch rivals in the Super League Magic Weekend.

The Black and Whites looked to be cruising to victory when they led 30-16 after 65 minutes but the Robins hit back with three late tries, one of them a highly-controversial touchdown, to claim a third win in four games and climb into the top eight of Stobart Super League at the expense of champions Leeds.

Winger Sam Latus sparked the late fightback while scrum-half Michael Dobson scored from what looked like a forward pass before Hodgson, fresh from his four-try feat against Castleford, beat two men on a thrilling 60-metre run to score his second try of the match.

The epic encounter brought the curtain down in memorable fashion on day one of the Magic Weekend, which drew 30,763 fans to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

Earlier, Australian scrum-half Tim Smith scored his second try for Wakefield to help his side to a 32-26 victory over Castleford in an 11-try feast.

Castleford thought they had snatched the points when substitute forward Nathan Massey went over three minutes from the end but the try was disallowed by video referee James Child for offside.

Smith then immediately went over for the Wildcats' sixth try to settle the tie.

Widnes gave a nod to the bright future they crave with the pre-match signing of Huddersfield captain Kevin Brown, but were brought crashing back to their miserable present as they were drubbed 68-4 by Warrington on their Magic Weekend debut.

Rooted to the bottom of the Stobart Super League table by some margin on their top-flight return, the Vikings have done little to convince many they were worthy of the three-year license given to them last year. But they have always insisted their project is a long-term one, as they highlighted by announcing the signing of Brown from 2013.

However, even that could not hide their current deficiencies as Warrington ran in 12 tries to register the biggest winning margin in the history of the Magic Weekend.

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