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HULL KR chairman Neil Hudgell believes the Northern Rail Cup final defeat to Leigh is nothing more than a temporary setback.
Rovers surprisingly ended their 24-match winning run at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road yesterday when they went down to a 22-18 defeat at the hands of promotion rivals Leigh Centurions.
The match was controversial, with Rovers twice being on the wrong end of video refereeing decisions, but Hudgell admitted his side missed the chance of putting down a marker ahead of a potential National League One Grand Final meeting in October.
See today's Mail for full match report and pictures
HULL KR chairman Neil Hudgell believes the Northern Rail Cup final defeat to Leigh is nothing more than a temporary setback.
Rovers surprisingly ended their 24-match winning run at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road yesterday when they went down to a 22-18 defeat at the hands of promotion rivals Leigh Centurions.
The match was controversial, with Rovers twice being on the wrong end of video refereeing decisions, but Hudgell admitted his side missed the chance of putting down a marker ahead of a potential National League One Grand Final meeting in October.
"I'm pretty sure this is a temporary setback to our goals for the end of the season," Hudgell told the Mail.
"We can't win every week.
"This was about two well-matched sides and one side had to lose and that was us.
"We have no complaints. In the bigger scheme of things, we'll use this to motivate us for the rest of the season.
"I don't think this is the best thing that could have happened to us. I think if we'd won, it would have put down more of a marker to Leigh.
"They'll now fancy their chances if we meet later on in the season."
Rovers' hopes of success were severely hit when influential half-back and captain James Webster was ruled out yesterday just before the game after failing to recover from an injured hamstring
And Hudgell insists that if Webster had played, the result would have been different.
He continued: "The other side of the coin is that we didn't play really well and then there's the James Webster factor.
"He's a quality player and I think he would have made a difference.
"We're not going to panic. We've lost a game by a score and in the grand scheme of things, it's not the end of the world.
"I think on balance the best side won.
"They showed a little bit more than us at the death and the result was a fair reflection over the 80 minutes.
"We got out of the traps quick but some glaring errors in defence gave them confidence and they kicked on from that.
"We gifted them two tries but we've had our fair share of luck this season and it wasn't with us.
"It now a question of bottling their emotion from this and use it as motivation to move forward."
Rovers now go on to face another of the side's chasing promotion, Widnes Vikings, next Sunday.
Hudgell added: "They have a great chance to put the record straight against Widnes. Beat them and we're in the box seat and this will be forgotten.
"Things went flat after the cup final last year. We can't let that happen this time."
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Hull KR www.hullkr.co.uk
Copyright Northcliffe Electronic Publishing Jul 17, 2006