Hull KR 34 Castleford Tigers 16: No Challenge Cup hangover as professional Rovers march on

Hull KR had only five days to recover from their Headingley heroics but pledged to push thoughts of Wembley to one side and were as good as their word.

A professional performance was enough to see off a Castleford side low on confidence and in real danger of dropping out of Super League.

The Tigers played like a team that have not won away from home since last August on their way to a damaging defeat that opens the door to Wakefield Trinity ahead of their home clash with Warrington Wolves on Sunday.

It was almost a carbon copy of the recent loss at Hull FC as Andy Last's men wilted at the first hint of pressure.

Ultimately, they failed to recover from three tries in eight minutes after a competitive start to the Craven Park clash.

The visitors went into the break only 16-10 behind but Rovers ran them off their feet in the second half to leave Castleford fans praying for a favour from Warrington.

While the Tigers are in danger of ending the weekend level on points with Wakefield, the Robins continue to fight on two fronts after a third straight win.

Willie Peters' side have given themselves some breathing space in the battle for the top six, which could be required with trips to Wigan Warriors and St Helens either side of Wembley.

A first-half purple patch left Castleford with too much to do as Rovers took advantage of familiar failings.

Last questioned the Tigers' resilience after a second-half collapse in the defeat against Hull in their last outing and the lack of belief was evident in the way they dealt with adversity at Craven Park.

Castleford were guilty of switching off for Tom Opacic's opening try following a late offload by Rowan Milnes with referee Chris Kendall on the verge of calling held.

Jez Litten's cross-field kick caused chaos before Brad Schneider brought some calm to proceedings, the two-time Headingley hero drawing in Castleford defenders to give Opacic the space to finish in the corner.

Just as they did on their last visit to Hull a fortnight ago, the Tigers allowed their heads to drop and quickly found themselves back behind their posts.

Chris Satae did the damage on that occasion and it was another big man who made it two tries in as many minutes for the Robins.

Fresh from his best performance in KR colours in the semi-final, towering prop Rhys Kennedy crashed over untouched on the last tackle for his first Super League try.

It was the softest of tries from a Castleford perspective and they appeared to be out of the game when Mikey Lewis and Shaun Kenny-Dowall combined to give Kane Linnett a clear run to the line and Milnes added a second goal to make it 16-0.

While it was not a fair reflection of the opening 23 minutes, it neatly summed up Castleford's season.

Reinvigorated by a two-week break and the arrival of some fresh faces, the Tigers had made an energetic start as they set about testing Rovers on the edges.

Last's side were unable to maintain that intensity after being rocked by KR's blitz but responded positively before half-time.

There was an element of the Robins getting carried away as they gave the ball air inside their own 20, resulting in a knock-on from Milnes.

Castleford made them pay in the next set, Will Tate going over against his former club from Jack Broadbent's offload.

New boy Billy Tsikrikas gave the Tigers a lift with a series of strong carries and the visitors were celebrating a second try on the stroke of half-time.

Castleford were given a let-off when Ethan Ryan was pulled back for a forward pass after galloping into open field – and they took full advantage.

A gap opened up for Broadbent out wide and he did not need a second invitation, the talented full-back racing through to score in the corner.

Riley Dean sent his conversion attempt wide but Castleford were in the game at the interval.

All it took was an early try from the hosts to knock the stuffing out of them in a repeat of the Hull game.

Matt Parcell was the architect after causing havoc off the bench against an ageing Castleford pack, making a burst through the middle to give Elliot Minchella the chance to power his way to the line.

The Tigers knew their race was run when James Batchelor stretched out to score and were in damage limitation mode after Broadbent was sin-binned for a professional foul on the back of another Parcell break.

Milnes knocked over the penalty to make it 30-10 with 24 minutes remaining – and it got worse for Castleford when Schneider put Ryan over in the corner with a superb looping pass.

Greg Eden raced over in the corner to score a consolation try but it was another night to forget on the road for the beleaguered Tigers.

Hull KR: Lewis, Ryan, Opacic, Kenny-Dowall, Senior, Milnes, Schneider, Kennedy, Litten, King, Batchelor, Linnett, Minchella. Substitutes: Parcell, Storton, Keinhorst, Luckley.

Castleford Tigers: Broadbent, Wallis, Mellor, Tate, Eden, Dean, Miller, Watts, Johnstone, Griffin, Edwards, Lawler, Westerman. Substitutes: Massey, Matagi, Foster, Tsikrikas.

Referee: Chris Kendall.