Wildcats silence Robins
Sam Obst's virtuoso display helped Wakefield end the regular season with a 24-10 victory over Hull KR.
Last Updated: 13/09/09 1:40pm
Sam Obst's virtuoso display helped Wakefield Wildcats end the regular season with a 24-10 victory over Hull KR at Belle Vue.
A fifth successive win took the Wildcats' final points tally to 32, two better than their previous best total in 2004, and lifted them to fifth place in the engage Super League table, at least for 24 hours.
Hull KR had no answer to the prompting and probing of Obst, who recovered from two heavy blows to score one try and create two others with clever kicks to take the man-of-the-match award.
Rovers' five-match winning run came to a disappointing end and they will miss out on a third-place finish if Huddersfield beat Wigan in their final match on Sunday.
With little to choose between two finely-matched teams up to half-time, it was Obst, switched from the half-backs to hooker following the loss of Brad Drew, who provided the crucial difference.
Early score
His stabbed kick caused all sorts of trouble for Rovers centre Kris Welham and loose forward Dale Ferguson was on hand to get the touch for the game's first try after only three minutes.
Danny Brough added the conversion to make it 6-0 but Rovers drew level on 13 minutes when second rower Clint Newton stretched out of a two-man tackle to plant the ball over the line despite a hint of a knock-on.
Michael Dobson, the League's leading scorer, kicked the goal and the visitors would have taken the lead had England winger Peter Fox been able to take Welham's pass with the tryline at his mercy.
Both sides came up with a number of handling errors, despite the perfect conditions, and it was from a knock-on by Rovers substitute Stanley Gene that the Wildcats regained the lead.
Gene coughed up possession 30 metres from his own line in a tackle from Obst, who took full advantage with a jinking run that took him all the way to the line for a solo try.
Brough's goal made it 12-6 and Rovers' problems increased when full-back Shaun Briscoe went off with a shoulder injury which forced coach Justin Morgan to reshuffle his line-up.
On report
They also had Gene and prop Scott Wheeldon placed on report for a high tackles which will give them a disciplinary headache in the build-up to the play-offs.
Another handling error, this time from substitute hooker Ben Fisher, in the opening stages of the second half gave Wakefield another dream attacking position and they again made the most of it, full-back Matt Blaymire sending prop Richard Moore crashing over for a third try.
Brough's third goal made it 18-6 but Fox briefly gave his side renewed hope when finishing strongly at the corner after his opposite number Dale Morton, making only his second senior appearance, failed to deal with Dobson's high kick.
The Wildcats lost Brough through injury but extended their lead with a penalty from Obst on 56 minutes before making sure of the win seven minutes later when left winger Aaron Murphy won the race to Obst's kick to the corner.
