Castleford 18-10 Hull KR

Castleford survived a second-half fightback to pick up their fourth win of the season against Hull KR.nnIt was not Castleford that beat Hull KR; it was Hull KR that beat Hull KR. Rovers have not won away all season in a dismal run, something which has not deterred the strong 1,300 contingent of KR fans that travelled from East Yorkshire.nnThe horrible showery conditions at The Jungle played havoc with the Robins’ ability to use speed and skill to attack the Tigers line, so much so that both Paul Cooke and Michael Dobson were stifled with ball in hand.nnCastleford welcomed back long-term absentee Mark Leafa, while Hull KR were without several first team players, most notably Ben Cockayne and England international Peter Fox.nnBrent Sherwin continued his recent good form, by setting up Luke Dorn for the opening score of the game. The Australian dabbed a left-footed kick through the Rovers defence for Dorn to pick up and ground.nnRovers failed to capitalise with ball in hand, making several errors which summarises their form away from Craven Park.nnAnd Castleford took full advantage, when Peter Lupton broke down field before off-loading to the supporting Michael Shenton whose pace ensured he crossed the whitewash, to celebrate the signing of his recent new 2-year contract deal.nnKirk Dixon failed to convert a penalty soon after, but it proved not to be costly a few minutes later.nnIt was Lupton who grabbed a third ten minutes before half-time when Brent Sherwin‘s high bomb was allowed to bounce by Rovers’ stand-in full back Daniel Fitzhenry, and Lupton pounced to give Castleford an 18-0 lead at half-time.nnBut as Castleford seem to do all too often this season, they allowed the opposition to dominate in the second half, and this showed in a ferocious second half. Justin Morgan’s half time teamtalk clearly worked somewhat as Rovers played with more enterprise, and limited their errors.nnBut the Tigers were more than even to the efforts, their defensive display proving to be more than adequate.nnMichael Vella grabbed a try after some soft defence. The prop forward collected a short pass to burst through the Tigers’ defence.nnCastleford became more desperate to make the game safe, and Brent Sherwin missed a drop-goal attempt which ended up nearer to the corner flag than it did goalposts.nnJon Steel added a second ten minutes before full-time, but Cooke’s missed conversion meant that Rovers needed two scores to ensure a win.nnCastleford held firm to give them their fourth win of the season and move two points behind KR’s city rivals Hull FC.nn[b]Castleford Tigers[/b] 18n[b]T:[/b] Dorn (9); Shenton (17); Lupton (37) n[b]G:[/b] Dixon (10, 18, 38) nn[b]Hull Kingston Rovers[/b] 10n[b]T:[/b] Vella (48); Steel (71) n[b]G:[/b] Cooke (49) nn[b]Ref:[/b] R Silverwoodnn[b]Venue:[/b] The Junglenn[b]Attendance:[/b] 7,771