Hull KR beat Castleford to regain four-point lead

Betfred Super League

Hull KR (16) 36

Tries: Burgess 3, Litten, Martin, Lewis, Mourgue Goals: Mourgue 4

Castleford (6) 6

Hull KR warmed up for their top-of-the-table meeting with Wigan next Friday with a comfortable win against depleted Castleford Tigers at Craven Park.

A second successive hat-trick from Joe Burgess helped the Robins take another step to their first League Leaders’ Shield in the Super League era.

Jez Litten, Rhyse Martin, Mikey Lewis and Arthur Mourgue all grabbed one try each for Hull KR in a dominant 36-6 victory in the East Yorkshire sunshine.

With interim Castleford boss Chris Chester only able to select a side from 18 fit players, talk of a potential thrashing was under the spotlight when Cas centre Louis Senior knocked the ball on straight from kick-off.

The visitors defended resolutely, however, and could have had the first score when captain Sam Wood’s beautiful line break saw him go clear but he was unable to find teenage full-back Jenson Windley, who would have a walk-in, instead knocking-on under pressure.

Following a lacklustre opening 20 minutes, the league leaders clicked into gear when Mikey Lewis set off a move which eventually saw Burgess dive over in the corner.

When providing the assist, Lewis was caught by a late challenge from Jeremiah Simbiken, who was sent to the sin-bin and, five minutes later, the Robins made their extra man count when Jack Broadbent found Burgess who dotted down his second in the left corner.

Former Tigers man Broadbent then had his pocket picked when Alex Mellor jumped over the full-back to collect an accurate up and under from Asi before diving next to the sticks to score.

Asi added the extras to reduce Cas’ deficit to four.

Cas thought they had their second try after the break when Senior charged over past three challenges but was adjudged to have lost grip of the ball at the vital moment when attempting to ground it.

The Robins took heed of the warning sign with Cas momentarily down to 12 men when, after Wood received a green card after going down, Lewis strode forward before Martin dived over.

Burgess then raced clear to find Lewis who dotted down to effectively put the match to bed on the hour mark.

Hull KR: Broadbent; Davies, Hiku, Batchelor, Burgess; Lewis, Mourgue; Sue, McIlorum, Whitbread; Hadley, Martin, Minchella

Interchanges: Litten, Luckley, Tanginoa, Doro

Castleford: Windley; Simm, Wood, Hodson, L. Senior; Asi, Westerman; Amone, Robb, Stimson; Simbiken, Mellor, Lawler

Interchanges: Singleton, Hall, Griffin, Mustapha

Sin-bin: Simbiken (21 mins)