"Our game plan was to try to restrict what they were doing and I think it worked for the first half when we got the early goal," he said after midfielder Ross Willox, in his final outing for the visitors before he jets off to the United States on a four-year academic scholarship, pounced on a defensive blunder to jolt the hosts out of a slumber.
"But then we conceded a sloppy goal just before halftime," Robertson lamented.
According to Wairarapa Times-Age scribe Gary Caffell, that goal had stung captain Sam Mason-Smith and his green army into combat mode.
A sustained 18-minute raid ensued but an equaliser proved elusive.
In the thick of the assault was former Wellington Phoenix ace Paul Ifill ricocheting a shot off the upright.
Rovers reserve goalkeeper Kyle Baxter got his mitts on a Cory Chettleburgh free kick before tipping it over the bar and then denied Mason-Smith a shot from point-blank range to prolong their agony.
But Thirsty Whale Hawke's Bay United striker Mason-Smith showed what his stripes were worth to the Phil Keinzley-coached Wairarapa United when he ran rings around a couple of Blues beefeaters to bring joy to the home fans to level the scores at 1-1 in the 26th minute.
Willox had the Wairarapa defence back-tracking soon after but goalkeeper Coey Turipa played ultimate gatekeeper.
Wairarapa's Alex Ridsdale also asked the question after latching on to an Ermal Hajdari cross but the Rovers replied.
However, the Blues had no answers when centre back Bryan Kaltak rose to nod the ball into the net from a corner kick in the 41st minute to put Wairarapa 2-1 up.
Keinzley didn't play favourites, yanking off the influential Ifill and midfielder Chettleburgh 20 minutes into the second half.
His men seemed to be reeling from the impact of the substitution but Mason-Smith, Swedish import striker Hajdari and Cameron Lindsay took the game by the scruff of the neck to mount moves.
The hosts didn't reach for the panic button as the game meandered along. It wasn't until about 10 minutes before regulation time that Wairarapa put themselves out of the slippery-banana skin zone.
Mason-Smith threaded an educated delivery to put Hajdari in the clear as the Tasman United player comfortably steered the ball into the net past Baxter.
Caffell reported Willox, Robertson and vice-captain Josh Stevenson were the pick of the Rovers.
"We pushed a little bit higher later in the second half with nothing to lose but in the end, they were going to score from the counter there, so I'm very proud of the boys," Robertson said.
While he wasn't a fan of artificial turfs, he had no issues with the conditions on a rain-free day.
He juxtaposed that with Bluewater Stadium, Park Island, where rain tended to cause flooding because of poor drainage.
The win ensured second-placed Wairarapa, who are four points adrift of league leaders Western Suburbs, still have a chance to etch their name on the silverware for a historic first time. The Chatham Cup hopefuls have four games in hand, although they suffered a don't-argue loss to Suburbs last month.
Kilkolly and Hoyle should be back for the next game away against Wellington United on July 22.
