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Hull KR vs Castleford (A) 18 - 10 L |
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6/07/08
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The Jungle
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Richard Silverwood
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Castleford Tigers
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18 - 10
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Castleford Tigers clinched their fourth engage Super League win of the
season with a hard-fought 18-10 victory over Hull Kingston Rovers at
The Jungle.
First-half efforts from Luke Dorn, Michael Shenton and Peter Lupton
proved too much for the visitors, who could only claw back two tries
after the break.
Rovers, now without a win in six games, only have the slightest of chances of making the top six.
The visitors had the better of the early exchanges with stand-off Paul Cooke pegging the hosts back with an accurate kick.
And they had two early opportunities but failed to convert both.
First scrum-half Michael Dobson broke the Tigers’ ranks but failed to
find Lee Gomersall, who would have almost certainly opened the scoring
given the chance.
Then a clever pass from Cooke, which sent second rower Chris Chester
clean through, was adjudged to have been forward by referee Richard
Silverwood.
The Tigers opened the scoring in the ninth minute following a mistake
from Stanley Gene as Rovers attempted to force their way out of their
own half.
Half-back Brent Sherwin slotted a clever kick between two Rovers
defenders and Luke Dorn managed to get himself on the end of it for his
12th of the season. Kirk Dixon added the extras.
A response almost came moments later when fast hands gave wing Jon
Steel an opportunity to gallop home down the right flank. But a superb
covering tackle from Michael Wainwright saved the Tigers.
The home side continued to dominate and they grabbed a second with only 18 minutes on the clock.
Loose forward Peter Lupton broke from deep inside the Castleford half
and, just when it looked as though he would be caught, Shenton took the
ball on and touched down under the posts with Dixon on hand to convert.
Castleford had several other chances to increase their lead with wing
Richard Owen and Sherwin both spilling the ball as they raced towards
the Rovers line.
But the errors did not prove as costly as Hull KR’s and in the 36th minute Castleford added a third.
Sherwin was once again the creator with a hanging cross-field kick that
took a wicked bounce over Gomersall and towards the Rovers try line.
Lupton was quickest to react and scooped the ball up from the greasy surface before piling over.
Dixon made it three conversions from three to give the Tigers an 18-point lead at the interval.
After the break Hull KR came out a different side and got themselves on
the scoreboard in the 47th minute - much to the delight of the
travelling Rovers contingent.
A good spell of pressure resulted in substitute Mick Vella darting through a gap in the Tigers defence to touch down.
Cooke converted to make it 18-6 but he almost created a second moments
later when he drilled a kick into the corner of the in-goal area.
But despite the best efforts of two Rovers attackers the ball went dead.
Cooke made a number of good breaks but the game slowed for a period with handling made difficult by the heavy showers.
Castleford clearly sensed victory with 15 minutes remaining and a spell
of hard tackling helped them to contain Rovers in their own third.
Steel gave Rovers hope with a try eight minutes from time but Cooke
missed the conversion and left the visitors with too much to do. |
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Fitzhenry, L. Gomersall, J. Webster, Welham, Steel, Galea, Dobson, Crossman, K. Netherton, Mills, Gene, Chester, Cooke.
Replacements: Vella, Fisher, Lovegrove, I'Anson.
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Donlan, Dixon, Shenton, Owen, Wainwright, Dorn, Sherwin, Higgins, Henderson, Korkidas, Lupton, Westerman, McGoldrick.
Replacements: Leafa, Boyle, Moore, Catic.
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