MATCH DETAILS
Jy Hitchcox scored four tries but still didn’t see his Castleford side claim two points as a dramatic final ten minutes saw Hull KR rescue a point away at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.
The hosts opened the scoring through Mike McMeeken early on, before Jy Hitchcox scored from a play which started in the Tigers in goal area just minutes later
Hitchcox grabbed his second after collecting a Jake Trueman crossfield kick before fighting off a Rovers defender. Neither of the wingers tries were converted but the Tigers still seemed in control at 14-0.
The Robins gave themselves hope just before half time as a textbook training ground play saw James Greenwood offload to Junior Vaivai who crossed the try line.
The second half started in an exciting fashion as Ryan Shaw’s second-half kick-off was claimed by Chris Atkin, who shot upfield and quickly passed inside to full back Adam Quinlan to touch down, mere seconds after the referee blew his whistle.
Hitchcox grabbed his hat-trick try after a cutout pass from Trueman found Michael Shenton who got the ball to his winger who showed great finishing ability to step back inside to score. The winger then scored his fourth in similar fashion in what should’ve put the game to bed.
With ten minutes to go, Mose Masoe used his size and power to wriggle over from close range, leaving the Robins with a six point deficit. Minutes later, the scores were levelled as Chris Atkins neat grubber couldn’t be collected by Alex Foster and Junior Vaivai managed to ground the ball.
Neither team were able to find the winning points as both teams missed drop goal attempts late on.
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED
Is Quinlan a record holder?
After it had taken Adam Quinlan just 8 seconds to score in the second half, many people are wondering if this is potentially a new world record. I’m sure the full back will be happy just to have scored but a world record wouldn’t go a miss for him.
Point lost for Tigers
It’s started to get very tight at the top of the table and every point on the ladder is vital. Daryl Powell and his team will be kicking themselves that they were unable to claim the win against Hull KR which could come back to bite them as they bid for a home play off game later in the year.
Man Of The Match- Jy Hitchcox (Castleford Tigers)
Who else could we have selected? The winger looked confident in finishing and showed his worth on the left edge. Hitchcox showed great agility to step back inside to finish a couple of his tries instead of chancing a dive into the corner, which showed a smart rugby brain.
THE RESULT
Castleford Tigers 24
Tries: McMeeken, Hitchcox (4)
Goals: Turner (2)
Drop Goals: n/a
Hull KR 24
Tries: Vavai (2), Quinlan, Masoe
Goals: Shaw (4)
Drop Goals: n/a
SQUADS
Castleford Tigers:ย Turner, Minikin, Foster, Shenton, Hitchcox, Laulu-Togagae, Trueman, Cook, Milner, Massey, Wardle, McMeeken, Sene-Lefao, Webster, Moors, McShane, Holmes.
Hull KR:ย Quinlan, Shaw, Blair, Vaivai, Wallis, Marsh, Atkin, Scruton, Smith, Tickle, Tomkins, Greenwood, Clarkson, Masoe, Jewitt, Lunt, Donaldson.
Referee: L. Moore
