The initial ten minutes of the match lacked excitement, with neither team creating clear-cut chances. The completion rates were commendable, with only one knock-on from each side, but the game struggled to find its rhythm and lacked any real excitement.

However, around the 15-minute mark, the hosts, Hull KR, began to take control of the game. A chaotic situation near the corner resulted in Ryan and Eden leaping for the ball. Opacic capitalized on the loose ball and swiftly made his way down the wing to score the opening points of the contest.

Just a minute later, KR extended their lead. After George Griffin was penalized for a high tackle, the Robins advanced down the field. Lewis made a breakthrough, and on the last play, Kennedy received a flat pass just 5 meters from the try line and powered over to score.

Castleford Tigers attempted to launch an attack of their own. Eden made a break down the wing and looked to make an inside pass, but unfortunately, his foot went into touch, leading to a stop in play.

Hull KR continued to dominate and added another 6 points to their score in the 23rd minute, with Lewis breaking through again and providing an offload to Linnett, who raced in to score under the posts.

With 13 minutes remaining in the half, Billy Tskrikas made his debut for the Tigers, replacing Liam Watts.

At the 29-minute mark, Castleford finally got on the board! Miller delivered a brilliant ball to Broadbent, who received it at pace and then executed a simple offload to Tate, allowing the young centre, playing against his former team, to score and secure some points for the Fords.

They scored again with just two minutes left in the half! After benefiting from a forward pass and an offside penalty, Castleford was in a favourable position. A skilful move from left to right created the space for Broadbent to use his impressive reflexes, accelerate, and sidestep Lewis to score just before the halftime hooter. This narrowed the gap, and they went into the break trailing by only 6 points.

Immediately after the break, KR continued their strong performance. Parcell broke through the line and offloaded to Minchella, who finished the move off by scoring to the right of the posts.

With 27 minutes remaining, KR seemingly put the game out of reach for the Tigers. The hosts earned back-to-back “six again” calls, allowing them to advance within 10 meters of the try line. Batchelor powered through with a straightforward crash ball and managed to slam the ball down from a standing position despite Broadbent’s efforts to stop him.

Broadbent was subsequently sin-binned for 10 minutes for slowing down the play-the-ball, and KR decided to add two more points to their tally with a successful kick, increasing their lead to 20.

The situation worsened for Castleford at the halfway mark of the second half when a kick from Rovers caused trouble for makeshift fullback Tate, resulting in a fumble. Taking advantage of the extra man, Schneider spotted Ryan unmarked out wide and sent a ball to him, leading to an easy score.

With just 8 minutes remaining, the Tigers managed to get a consolation try. KR was penalized for being offside, and Castleford capitalized on the opportunity to advance up the field. A well-executed move found Greg Eden, who scored his 100th Super League try for the club in the corner.

In the dying moments of the game, Castleford attempted another impressive move. The ball shifted towards the right edge, finding Broadbent off a KR player’s hand, but as Broadbent headed for the corner, the ball came free.

The final score was Hull Kingston Rovers 34-16 Castleford Tigers.

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