Donald double sinks Rovers
Leeds kept pace with Super League leaders St Helens with a 34-18 win over Hull KR at Headingley.
Last Updated: 18/08/07 12:16am
Leeds kept pace with Super League leaders St Helens with a 34-18 win over Hull KR at Headingley.
Scott Donald scored twice for the Rhinos and there were further scores from Ryan Hall, Matt Diskin, Clinton Toopi and Danny McGuire.
Rovers, who remain in danger of relegation but who have a three-point advantage over Salford, enjoyed a good spell after the interval, although by that time Leeds had built a 16-0 lead.
Rhys Lovegrove and Luke Dyer dragged Justin Morgan's side back into the contest with scores inside the first 10 minutes of the second period, but Toopi and Donald, with his second, ended their hopes of a fightback.
The visitors were poor in the first half and paid the price as Leeds opened up a commanding lead.
It took them until the 14th minute to make the breakthrough, when skipper Kevin Sinfield and Jamie Jones-Buchanan combined to send Donald over in the left corner.
It was indicative of the Rhinos' early control and the visitors' hopes were hit further in the 17th minute when Chris Chester was sent to the sin-bin for deliberately slowing play down.
With Sinfield dictating play for Leeds, Rovers' line began to lead an increasingly charmed existence, and it came as no surprise when Academy product Hall, 19, claimed the second try in the 24th minute.
The lightning-quick winger collected Jamie Thackray's neat offload and raced 40 metres down the right flank, outstripping Mark Lennon before diving over in the corner.
Sinfield failed to add the extras, but he made amends when Diskin burst over at pace from close range to score Leeds' third try after half an hour.
Rovers fightback
Leeds' 16-0 interval advantage looked commanding enough but Rovers improved dramatically after the break.
The Rhinos were caught napping in the 42nd minute when Ben Fisher and James Webster linked up to send replacement Lovegrove burrowing over from point-blank range. Paul Cooke added the extras to spark hopes of an improbable fightback.
That prospect gained further credence as Rovers, playing like a side transformed, cut the deficit further in the 49th minute.
Mark O'Neill's teasing grubber kick into the right corner was seized upon by Dyer and Cooke produced an exquisite touchline conversion to reduce Leeds' advantage to four points.
But Leeds remained a danger on the counter-attack and Carl Ablett's fine break down the right flank sent Toopi racing clear and Ian Kirke's delightful long offload gave Donald his second on the opposite flank.
Rovers hit back through Ryan Tandy - which Cooke converted - but McGuire's last-minute score gave Leeds the final say, while Sinfield claimed his fifth goal from six attempts.
