Castleford (20) 28

Tries: Ferres, Huby, Hudson, Netherton Goal: Westerman 5, Huby

Hull KR (18) 46

Tries: Fox 2, Briscoe 3, Dobson 2, Colbon Goals: Dobson 7

Michael Dobson scored 22 points and Shaun Briscoe scored a hat-trick as Hull KR beat Castleford at the Jungle.

Dobson scored two of Hull KR's eight tries and kicked seven goals to become the first man to reach 200 points in the Super League this season.

Dobson's efforts also helped his side open up a five-point lead over their nearest rivals with four games of the regular season remaining.

The Tigers are one of the three sides five points behind Hull KR.

For long periods of the game it looked as though Castleford could take the points themselves and move into the top five.

But after trailing 20-18 at the break, Rovers scored three tries in 12 minutes at the start of the second half to send themselves into the Challenge Cup break on a high.

The Tigers opened the scoring when Brett Ferres burst through courtesy of a slick show-and-go before racing clear for his 10th try of the season.

606: DEBATE Mr Matterson has got a lot of hard work to do in defence as Rovers' tries looked simple and we were falling off tackles rangichase

Joe Westerman added the extras and did so again five minutes later when Craig Huby added a second try for the home side, the prop forward showing surprising pace before crawling over.

Peter Fox scored his first try in five weeks after Paul Cooke showed good hands to collect Dobson's towering punt and put into the England winger's path.

Westerman then slotted a penalty, but Rovers hit back with two delightful tries in the space of three minutes.

The first came from Briscoe's close-range dart after 29 minutes, with the full-back collecting a deft pass from Cooke, before Dobson went over for his first try following a clever break from Daniel Fitzhenry.

Dobson kicked his third conversion of the game to give his side a four-point lead, but Castleford skipper Ryan Hudson followed up his own kick to give his side the half-time lead.

Westerman kicked the second period off with another penalty before Rovers took a firm grip on the game with three tries in the space of 10 minutes.

The first saw Dobson snake his way over with a lightening run that caught the Castleford defence flat-footed before Ben Galea and send Colbon crashing over at the corner after a searing break from Clint Newton.

Then, with the Tigers desperately seeking a route back into the game, Kris Welham's big hit saw Westerman drop the ball close to the line, allowing Fox to race the length of the field for his 14th try of the season.

Dobson's goal opened up a 12-point lead before Castleford's Kirk Netherton supported Richard Owen's break to score against his former employers.

However, three minutes later Briscoe snapped up Dobson's pass to score his ninth try of the season with 13 minutes remaining and Briscoe he completed his hat-trick moments before the final hooter after a short pass from Cooke.

Castleford coach Terry Matterson:
"I think the scoreline was harsh and it was a cracking game of rugby.

"Credit to them, they kept coming and their kicking game was excellent. I think they just shaded us on the day.

"At half-time we could have been two or three scores up and that hurt us at the end of the game. We'll take a lot positives out of the game."

Hull KR coach Justin Morgan:
"I think fourth is ours to lose now, I'm confident we won't lose it and that will be the first tick in the box.

"[Michael Dobson] was great, he showed great composure. I thought most of the time he showed a lot of maturity in what types of plays to call at certain times.

"He is very young and sometimes that youthfulness means he likes to roll the dice all the time but today he learned how to control the game and effectively put more pressure on the opposition."

Castleford: Owen, Dixon, Shenton, Evans, Wainwright, McGoldrick, Chase, Huby, Hudson, Higgins, Ferres, Jones, Westerman. Replacements: Sargent, Feather, Netherton, Widders.

Hull KR: Briscoe, Fox, Welham, Webster, Colbon, Cooke, Dobson, Wheeldon, Fisher, Vella, Newton, Galea, Murrell. Replacements: Lovegrove, Bibb, Fitzhenry, Cockayne.

Referee: T Alibert (Toulouse)

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