Super League: Hull KR 22-30 Castleford Tigers

Ben Roberts missed the Magic Weekend game after his wife was in labour

Playmaker Ben Roberts celebrated the birth of his son by inspiring Castleford to victory against Hull KR.

The Tigers, who ended a three match losing run with victory at the Magic Weekend, scored five tries through Roberts, Denny Solomona, Oliver Holmes, Luke Gale and Liam Finn.

Rovers, who trailed 24-16 at the break, replied through Albert Kelly's brace, Kieran Dixon and Aaron Ollett.

Castleford became only the second team to win at Rovers this season.

Chris Chester's Robins side meanwhile have now lost three in a row in Super League.

Samoa international full-back for the night Roberts, who missed Castleford's win against Wakefield with his wife in labour, scored the opening try after a sliding move to the right.

Roberts then turned provider, first with a high kick that was snatched from Ben Cockayne's hands by Solomona, and then with an offload to Holmes in space on the left.

Rovers fought back, Kelly's opening try came from a similar pickpocketing off a high kick, while his second was a classy piece of poaching close to line from Ken Sio's pass.

Having allowed the hosts back into the game, Cas responded when Michael Shenton stepped through the defence and fed Gale for his try.

The pendulum swung back Rovers way though when Dixon gathered a Terry Campese chip in goal to score, and Ollett brought Rovers back within two with his effort from Kris Welham's kick.

Finn burrowed through to edge the Tigers into an eight point lead that they clung on to to take the points.

Castleford head coach Daryl Powell:

"We're starting great at the moment and blew Hull KR away in the first 20 or so minutes.

"They got something off a kick and we dropped off a bit. The pleasing thing is we had a real tough second half to ride through and we came through it. It certainly wasn't pretty but nobody will remember that at the end of the season.

"It was about winning today. It was a real key game for us. You could see it meant a fair bit to both teams. It was a good result for us, it's a tough place to come. The start got us the result in the end but we're looking to be a bit more consistent in games. There are a few things we need to improve on."

Hull KR head coach Chris Chester:

"We didn't deserve to get anything from that. We weren't at the races in the first half. The contact was the worst I've seen and I told the boys they were soft in the first half. We improved in the second half, the contact was a lot better but you can't gift teams 24 points.

"We had quite a bit of field position in the second half but they thought we had to score off every set. We're massively disappointed. We had targeted this game as one we needed to win so it's going to be fight now for the next seven rounds.

"We've got the quality and we'll be getting a few bodies back over the next few weeks but we got rolled by a good Castleford side today. We weren't aggressive or tough enough."

Hull KR: Cockayne; Dixon, Welham, Salter, Sio; Campese, Kelly; Green, Boudebza, Puletua, Larroyer, Blair, McCarthy.

Replacements: Donaldson, Ollett, Cox, Greenwood.

Castleford: Roberts; Gibson, Webster, Shenton, Solomona; Finn, Gale; Lynch, Milner, Millington, O. Holmes, McMeeken, Massey.

Replacements: Boyle, Moors, Tansey, Maher.

Referee: Richard Silverwood (RFL).