CASTLEFORD TIGERS 0 HULL KR 44
CALLUM WALKER, OneBore Stadium, Saturday

ON this performance, Castleford are a club in crisis on and off the field as Hull KR simply wiped the floor with the Tigers without even needing second gear.

Chants in support of Ryan Carr – who was absent in the dugout after standing down for personal reasons – echoed on the terraces before and during the game and the atmosphere at the OneBore Stadium was odd to say the least.

Boos from a small section aimed at several players were unusual whilst a lack of noise from a usually bouncing Rovers away end contributed to a deathly silent feeling in West Yorkshire.

On the field, Sam Hall and Jenson Windley came in for Jack Ashworth and Tom Weaver, whilst Sauaso Sue replaced Jordan Dezaria for KR.

Following a turbulent week, the Tigers started brightly, forcing an early drop-out but that came to nought.

And, in typical Castleford fashion, they conceded the first time they invited pressure on their own line, Jez Litten delivering a brilliant grubber to himself as Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e found himself caught in the ruck. Ryan Hampshire converted for a 6-0 lead after 12 minutes.

A cracking Krystian Mapapalangi hit on Peta Hiku, however, handed Castleford the chance and Windley crossed, only for play to be brought back for obstruction.

The Robins duly punished the hosts for that error as a neat left-to-right shift saw Tom Davies fly in at the corner with the half-hour in sight. This time Hampshire missed the extras, but Rovers still led 10-0.

Louis Senior’s second error invited more pressure from the visitors as the clock ran down, but KR lost their Captain’s Challenge on the stroke of half-time following Joe Burgess’ knock on.

Oliver Gildart didn’t come out for the second-half as Rhyse Martin moved into the centres, but that didn’t stop Rovers from registering the first score of the second-half.

As per usual, Castleford crashed immediately following the resumption with Tyrone May barging through paper-thin defence just six minutes in. Martin converted for a 16-0 lead.

And it was game over when Burgess intercepted a Laulu-Togaga’e pass to run 90 metres moments later. Martin made it 22-0.

Peta Hiku strode through untouched in the next set to rub salt into the wounds before May grabbed his second, charging down a terrible Daejarn Asi kick to dot down under the sticks. Martin converted both for a 34-0 lead.

That made it four tries in 11 second-half minutes as once again the Tigers capitulated under any semblance of pressure.

Rovers soon brought up the 40-point mark with a lovely move, May poking ahead a chip as Hiku caught and offloaded to the sprinting Davies.

To sum up Castleford’s evening, Burgess caught the short kick-off with the Tigers experiencing little joy near the Rovers line.

As it was, Martin latched on to a neat Burgess grubber kick through after the latter was set free by Hampshire to make it 44-0.

Burgess caught another short kick-off as the Tigers persisted with their woeful decision-making.

In fact, the nil to their name probably flattered Castleford given the lack of direction and vision plaguing the Tigers from minute one.

Rovers, who did what they needed to do without being brilliant, withstood last-minute pressure to keep their clean sheet intact as boos rang round the OneBore at full-time.

GAMESTAR: Jez Litten made Hull KR tick.

GAMEBREAKER: Four Hull KR tries in 11 second-half minutes ended the game as a contest.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Joe Burgess striding home from an interception was a joy to see.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Jez Litten (Hull KR)
2 pts Tyrone May (Hull KR)
1 pt Dean Hadley (Hull KR)

MATCHFACTS

TIGERS
35 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
21 Louis Senior
12 Alex Mellor
23 Krystian Mapapalangi
40 Tylor Sharpe
24 Jenson Windley
7 Tom Weaver
36 Tyler Dupree
9 Liam Hood
13 Joe Stimson
11 Jordan Lane
32 George Hirst
39 Jack Brown
Subs (all used)
8 Renouf Atoni
10 George Lawler
25 Sam Hall
27 Cain Robb
18th man (not used)
15 Jack Ashworth
Also in 21-man squad
18 Fletcher Rooney
– Corey Sharpe
– Alfie Salmon

Sin bin: Mellor (60) – professional foul

HULL KR
14 Jack Broadbent
2 Tom Davies
3 Peta Hiku
4 Oliver Gildart
5 Joe Burgess
34 Ryan Hampshire
7 Tyrone May
8 Sauaso Sue
9 Jez Litten
11 Dean Hadley
16 Jai Whitbread
12 James Batchelor
13 Elliot Minchella
Subs (all used)
10 Tom Amone
15 Sam Luckley
17 Rhyse Martin
18 Karl Lawton
18th man (not used)
20 Jordan Dezaria
Also in 21-man squad
21 Noah Booth
22 Bill Leyland
24 Jack Charles

Tries: Litten (12), Davies (26, 66), May (47, 58), Burgess (51), Hiku (54), Martin (73)
Goals: Hampshire 1/2, Martin 5/6

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Tigers: Jack Brown; Hull KR: Jez Litten

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-10; 0-16, 0-22, 0-28, 0-34, 0-40, 0-44

Penalty count: 6-3
Half-time: 0-10
Referee: Marcus Griffiths