Either Hull Kingston Rovers or the Castleford Tigers would break their 2022 Super League points duck as the two sides came together for a TV game at Craven Park with a chance of ending the evening in seventh place and giving their start to the season a big boost although the losers knew that a loss would increase the pressure on their players and coaching staff with a very poor start to the year’s competition.

Hull KR were slight favourites for the win but had only been given a two-point start on the coupon, it was likely to be a war of attrition as the two sides looked to grind out the all-important win.

After an end-to-end opening, the first incident of note came on eighteen and was the sin-binning of Bureta Faraimo for contact to the head on Will Dagger who had just taken a high kick.

Four minutes after the sin-binning the Robins were in for the opening try of the game when Shaun Kenny-Dowall bounced off three attempted tackles to spin over the line and ground. Jordan Abdull was unable to add the conversion. Liam Watts was deemed to have made contact to the head in back play and as the Tigers went down to eleven men, he joined Faraimo in the dugout.

On thirty-three the twelve men levelled the scores when Jordan Turner pushed his way over the line to ground after taking a short pass ten out from the line. The video referee checked for a double movement but was happy with the try. Gareth O´Brien added the conversion for a 6-4 lead.

A little bit if magic from Brad Takairangi on thirty-eight saw KR regain the lead when he offloaded to Mikey Lewis who put Sam Wood free to go in at the corner. Abdull was again unable to add the extras, the Robins 8-6 ahead at the interval.

Sam Wood got a crucial second of the night on fifty-one after taking a miss out pass and going over the top of opposition winger Derrell Olpherts to ground. Abdull managed his conversion kick from the touchline for 14-6.

Hull KR ran through a broken Tigers defence as Matt Parcell took a Lewis pass to go twenty metres and score under the sticks. Abdull was again accurate with his conversion for 20-6, the Tigers now looking down and out.

Within a couple of minutes Takairangi ran over the top of the Togers defence from ten metres out for the fifth KR try of the night and when Abdull added the conversion it was 26-6 and truly all over for the visitors.

Faraimo grabbed one back on seventy-one as he stretched for the corner off an Evalds pass. O´Brien was unable to convert, the Tigers still sixteen behind.

After a tightly contested, and somewhat nervy, opening forty the home side knuckled down the better in the second half and ran in three crucial tries to ensure that they picked up their first points of the season for Tony Smith and condemned Lee Radford´s Tigers to a third consecutive loss as they drop to second bottom in the league. KR now have a platform to build, the Tigers will have a hand poised over the panic button.

Hull KR:   Dagger, Wood (2T), Takairangi (T), Kenny-Dowall (T), Hall, Lewis, Abdull (3G), Storton, Parcell (T), King, Halton, Linnett, Minchella. Subs:  Litten, Richards, Garratt, Laulu-Togaga´e.

Castleford Tigers: Evalds, Faraimo (T, SB on 18), Fonua, Turner (T), Olpherts, Trueman, O´Brien (G), Massey, McShane, Griffin, Sutcliffe, Blair, Westerman. Subs: Watts (SB on 23), Smith, Matagi, Robb.

Half-Time: 8-6.

Full-Time: 26-10.

Score Progression: (SB, 4-0, (SB), 4-4, 4-6, 8-6 : HT : 12-6, 14-6, 18-6, 20-6, 24-6, 26-6, 26-10 : FT .

Referee: Liam Moore.