Hull KR 70-12 Castleford Tigers

Shannon McDonnell scored a hat-trick for Hull Kingston Rovers

Hull Kingston Rovers ran in 12 tries as they outclassed an under-strength Castleford Tigers at Craven Park.

David Hodgson scored four tries, three in the first half, while full-back Shannon McDonnell crossed twice and Sam Latus also scored before the break.

McDonnell completed his hat-trick and Kris Welham, Lincoln Withers, Constantine Mika and Craig Hall also scored as Rovers notched 70 points.

Michael Dobson kicked 11 out of 12 goals to complete Castleford's misery.

The depth of Cas's squad was laid bare as the injury-hit Tigers were taken apart by a Robins side, who posted their best-ever Super League win.

Shorn of their three first-choice half-backs in Rangi Chase, Ryan McGoldrick and Danny Orr, Ian Millward's men rarely got a look-in, while Rovers moved to within a point of the top eight.

Rovers did what they did well, scoring three tries in the first 10 minutes.

Cas triggered their own downfall when Richard Owen missed Hall's third-minute kick and McDonnell had a free run in on his first appearance since announcing his end-of-season departure.

Dobson then left Welham with an overlap to put Hodgson over in the corner.

Blake Green backed that up with a 40-20, which led to Latus going in at the corner after a link-up between Green and McDonnell.

McDonnell got his second after chasing down a Dobson kick and a fifth try followed when captain Ben Galea skipped around Grant Millington to set Hodgson free.

Welham went in six minutes before the break after an offload from Mika. Respite did arrive in the shape of a try from Jordan Thompson for Castleford, but normal service was resumed shortly after half-time when Hodgson got his hat-trick after neat interplay between Galea and McDonnell.

McDonnell secured his own treble from a Dobson pass before Withers combined with Scott Murrell to break clear.

Murrell then laid on a short ball for powerful second-rower Mika to carry over and, although Casd crossed again through Josh Griffin, Rovers were quickly back on the front foot with Hall crossing in the corner.

The new record was set when Hodgson took Dobson's kick on the fly.

VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM

Hull Kingston Rovers head coach Craig Sandercock:

"It was well documented that they had a couple of players out, so it was a matter of being composed and keeping our concentration and it was pleasing to put an 80-minute performance together.

"Over the last four to six weeks we've been steadily improving our performance indicators and it's been a case of needing to iron out the glitches in the individual performances.

"The key today was executing our game plan. They were missing their halves so had people defensively not used to playing in those positions, and we wanted to test them down the middle."

Castleford coach Ian Millward:

"I'm very disappointed with our performance. We were not up to Super League standard. I take my hat off to Hull KR, but we were poor.

"It was one of the worst defensive performances I've seen for a long time. Everyone was quite soft. We didn't stick to our structure and I feel sorry for our fans.

"But the fans are very intelligent and they don't need me to sugar coat it. They're very loyal, but we need to turn things around."

SUNDAY'S LINE-UPS.

Hull KR: McDonnell; Latus, Hall, Welham, D Hodgson; Green, Dobson; Paea, J Hodgson, Taylor, Mika, Galea, Lovegrove.

Replacements: Murrell, Withers, O'Hara, Clinton.

Castleford: Owen; Youngquest, Thompson, Dixon, Griffin; Ferres, Milner; Massey, Hudson, Huby, Mitchell, Millington, Jones.

Replacements: Emmitt, Clark, Walker, Holmes.

Attendance: 7,312.

Referee: James Child (Dewsbury).