Sunday 17th February 2013, 15:00 - Round:3

Hull KR got their Super League season up and running with an eight-try demolition of Widnes Vikings at MS3 Craven Park.

Rovers suffered back-to-back defeats against Catalan Dragons and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in their opening two matches but were too good for last season's wooden spoonists Widnes.

Eight different players contributed tries for Hull, with captain Michael Dobson opening the scoring in the eighth minute prior to adding six goals.

Rovers had the match all but wrapped up by half-time after establishing a 34-0 lead, before Widnes regained some respectability with second-half scores from Gareth Hock, Rhys Hanbury and Alex Gerrard.

The hosts took the lead following a superb 60-metre break from Omari Caro, who picked a loose ball up on his own 20-metre line.

He showed some of the pace that made him Super League's fastest player last season before Dobson ducked inside to score near the left-hand corner.

The Robins skipper could not convert on that occasion but he did nine minutes later when Caro continued his excellent start to the game; he intercepted Hanbury's pass 20 metres from his own line and showed electrifying speed to sprint clear and score his second try of the season.

Con Mika's excellent hit on Eamon O'Carroll forced the knock-on that gave the home side another promising platform to attack from, and on-loan Dale Ferguson powered his way through in the 21st minute to extend Rovers' lead further.

Things just got worse for Denis Betts' men as Rovers looked to put their successive defeats behind them.

The hosts capitalised on the new advantage rule when Shaun Briscoe spilled a Dobson bomb 15 metres from his own line. Prop Evarn Tuimavave scooped the loose ball up for Kris Welham to score in his first match of the campaign after recovering from a hand injury.

Graeme Horne came off the bench in the 31st minute and scored under the posts with his first touch thanks to a fine offload by Rhys Lovegrove.

Then, in Rovers’ next set, Lovegrove was at it again with another assist to send Greg Eden over.

Dobson took his conversions to five from six, giving Rovers a massive lead at the break.

The Vikings offered very little in attack before the interval but it took them just five minutes of the second half to get on the scoreboard thanks to Hock.

Hanbury converted and, although a comeback was really never on, the visitors never gave up.

Hanbury tried his best to make a game of it and deservedly got on the scoresheet in the 63rd minute, with his conversion closing the gap to 22 points.

Yet that spurred Rovers back into action. Chris Heil made it two tries in three games for the Robins with a clever converted effort.

Craig Hall then showed his pace is just as good as his team-mate Caro by taking the ball from the base of an attacking scrum to sprint clear and score with 10 minutes to play. Dobson missed the conversion but still had a personal haul of 22 points.

It was the Vikings who scored last with a late consolation try from Gerrard converted by Hanbury.