Hull KR claim golden-point victory over Castleford

Betfred Super League

Hull KR (8) 19

Tries: Burgess 3, Hiku Goals: Martin Drop-Goal: Lewis

Castleford (12) 18

Tries: Simm, Rooney, Cini Goals: Hoy 3

Last year's Man of Steel Mikey Lewis kicked a golden point drop-goal for Hull KR to earn his side a dramatic victory in a hard-fought contest against Castleford Tigers.

A hat-trick from Joe Burgess and a first-half try from Peta Hiku looked to have given the Robins success in their Super League opener.

Zac Cini's converted try six minutes from time for Castleford forced the game into golden point.

Tries from Josh Simm and Fletcher Rooney had earlier given the visitors an unlikely half-time lead.

Joe Burgess' hat-trick helped Hull KR to an opening night victory

In a frantic opening, Robins new boy Jared Waerea-Hargreaves thought he had forced himself over the line but, following a captain's challenge, was deemed to have knocked on before touching the ball down.

Hull KR winger Burgess, who had dropped the ball in a similar position moments before, opened the scoring after 17 minutes when he dived in at the corner following good work from Lewis.

Castleford did not drop their heads, however, and after some excellent defending from Niall Evalds had momentarily kept them out, an excellent dummy from Tex Hoy allowed Simms to dive in at the right-hand corner.

Shortly after, Rooney slalomed past two challenges to score superbly to the right of the posts to give the visitors a deserved six-point lead after Hoy had added the extras.

Hoy extended the visitors' lead with a penalty kick, but Hiku's excellent finish in the corner pulled the score back to 12-8 at half-time.

Excellent scrambling defence from the visitors denied the home side until the 64th minute when Lewis found a yard of space to find Burgess to acrobatically score his second try of the match.

Rhyse Martin's excellent kick from the touchline gave the hosts the lead they craved, and after Burgess' third try of the night, a carbon copy of his second, it looked like the win was secure.

Back came the tireless Tigers, who showed they will be tough opposition for anybody this season despite last week's Challenge Cup exit at Bradford Bulls, and new signing Cini collected Hoy's up-and-under to level the scores and force the match into extra-time before Lewis' match-winning moment.

Hull KR boss Willie Peters:

"It a was tough game, Cas certainly came to play and it could have gone either way. But what I'm most pleased about is that we stuck at it and we found a way to win.

"I knew Mikey would stand up in golden point and that's a positive sign for me because it shows the growth and maturity.

"He's worked hard at it and he wants these big moments and he stepped up. He's been working on his field goals and it's probably an area that we needed to improve."

Castleford head coach Danny McGuire:

"I'm really proud of my players and the way we responded to a not great performance last week.

"I asked them for a response and I thought they gave it. They worked unbelievably hard for each other, committed to each other, and showed passion and commitment.

"We were supposed to be cannon-fodder this week and we showed that we're not. We've got some fight about us and we've got the makings of a team."

Hull KR: Evalds; Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess; Lewis, May; Sue, McIlorum, Waerea-Hargreaves, Martin, Batchelor, Minchella.

Interchanges: Litten, Hadley, Whitbread, Tanginoa.

Castleford: Rooney; Simm, Wood, Cini, I. Senior; Asi, Hoy; Westerman, Rimbu, Lawler, Simbiken, Hodson, Horne.

Interchanges: Griffin, Mustapha, Namo, Davies.

Referee: Liam Rush.