CASTLEFORD TIGERS 0 HULL KR 48
CALLUM WALKER, Mend-A-Hose Jungle, Thursday
HULL KR wiped the floor with an abject Castleford as star man Mikey Lewis continued his stellar form to consolidate Rovers’ place at the top of Super League.
Willie Peters’ men had lost just once all year going into this one – and they never looked like doing so here against a lacklustre Tigers.
For the first time as Castleford head coach, Danny McGuire named an unchanged side from the one that beat Hull FC last weekend, whilst the only change for Rovers saw Sam Luckley come in for Eribe Doro.
On the back of a six-again, Rovers hit first in the fourth minute, Jack Broadbent striking against his former side off a neat Lewis pass. Arthur Mourgue converted for a 6-0 lead.
Mourgue himself was held up in the next set before Jez Litten forced a drop-out. The writing was on the wall as the visitors shifted the ball left and Noah Booth finished acrobatically. Mourgue’s conversion was excellent as Rovers led 12-0 after ten minutes.
And KR should have had another as the midway point in the first half loomed but Tom Davies knocked on over the line under terrific Zac Cini pressure.
From that, the Tigers finally launched their first foray into Rovers’ half, Brad Singleton tackling Mourgue behind his own posts, but the repeat set came to nought.
McGuire’s men were unlucky to be pinged for offside moments later, with Davies making sure of his four-pointer this time with a flying run to the corner. Mourgue missed the conversion, but Rovers were now 16-0 up.
An obvious strip on Joe Westerman saw Lewis canter 50 metres shortly after, and although referee Liam Moore awarded the try in a quite perplexing decision, Castleford successfully challenged the ruling.
That being said, it didn’t remain 16-0 for long as the rampaging Luckley offloaded to Mourgue to dive over just after the half-hour mark. The Frenchman, however, couldn’t convert with Rovers leading 20-0.
Broadbent bombed his own effort as half-time approached with another Lewis break going unrewarded. As such the Tigers survived until the break, but it wasn’t exactly good showing.
Things didn’t improve for Castleford immediately following the resumption, either, with only a desperate Milnes lunge picking off Davies’ inside pass to Litten.
The Tigers themselves should have scored in the next set following Innes Senior’s mazy run, but Cini dropped possession with the whitewash begging.
And in true champion fashion, Jai Whitbread latched on to a Broadbent break and pass to put the final in the Castleford coffin on 53 minutes. Mourgue made it 26-0 with the boot.
In a rare moment, Lewis was penalised for laughing in the face of George Lawler following an error, but it mattered little as the halfback’s bomb was spilled by Josh Simm into the arms of Booth for his second.
Davies then stepped past Daejarn Asi to send Peta Hiku under the posts for his 100th career try as the clock hit 70 minutes.
But there was still enough time for Davies to register his second and for Broadbent to leap highest to a pin-point Lewis kick in the final stages. Mourgue rounded things off at 48-0.
GAMESTAR: Mikey Lewis had the ball on a string.
GAMEBREAKER: Jai Whitbread’s try after half-time made it 26-0 and ended any realistic hopes for Castleford.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Innes Senior’s 80-metre run should have ended in points but Zac Cini knocked on over the line.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Mikey Lewis (Hull KR)
2 pts Jack Broadbent (Hull KR)
1 pt Dean Hadley (Hull KR)
MATCHFACTS
TIGERS
3 Zac Cini
24 Josh Simm
22 Louis Senior
4 Sam Wood
5 Innes Senior
6 Daejarn Asi
7 Rowan Milnes
41 Tom Amone
9 Liam Horne
38 Brad Singleton
10 George Lawler
12 Alex Mellor
42 Chris Atkin
Subs (all used)
13 Joe Westerman
15 George Griffin
19 Sam Hall
26 George Hill
18th man (not used)
35 Dan Okoro
Also in 21-man squad
16 Cain Robb
25 Will Tate
39 Hugo Salabio
HULL KR
35 Arthur Mourgue
2 Tom Davies
3 Peta Hiku
18 Jack Broadbent
36 Noah Booth
6 Mikey Lewis
7 Tyrone May
8 Sauaso Sue
9 Jez Litten
11 Dean Hadley
16 Jai Whitbread
12 James Batchelor
13 Elliot Minchella
Subs (all used)
15 Sam Luckley
20 Kelepi Tanginoa
21 Jack Brown
25 Bill Leyland
18th man (not used)
25 Eribe Doro
Also in 21-man squad
5 Joe Burgess
19 Danny Richardson
27 Leon Ruan
Tries: Broadbent (4, 80), Booth (10, 66), Davies (25, 73), Mourgue (32), Whitbread (55), Hiku (70)
Goals: Mourgue 6/9
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-16, 0-20; 0-26, 0-32, 0-38, 0-42, 0-48
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Tigers: Innes Senior; Hull KR: Mikey Lewis
Penalty count: 2-2
Half-time: 0-20
Referee: Liam Moore
Attendance: 7,650