Rovers kings of The Jungle

Dobson and Briscoe shine in away victory

Last updated: 4th August 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Rovers kings of The Jungle

Briscoe: Hat-trick hero

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Australian scrum-half Michael Dobson scored 22 points as Hull KR secured a convincing 46-28 victory away at Castleford.

The 23-year-grabbed two of his side's eight tries and kicked seven goals to become the first man in this year's Super League to reach 200 points.

The victory opened up a five-point cushion between fourth-placed Hull KR and their nearest rivals Wigan Warriors with only four games of the regular season remaining.

For long periods of the contest it had looked as though Castleford could take the points and move into the top five, but after trailing by two points at half-time, Rovers posted three tries in quick succession to take control.

After edging out Hull in a fiercely contested local derby last weekend, Rovers showed little signs of fatigue in the opening stages and came close to taking the lead with six minutes gone when Liam Colbon was bundled into touch close to the post.

Following their narrow escape, the Tigers opened the scoring themselves a minute later as Brett Ferres broke through the line and raced clear for his 10th try of the season.

Joe Westerman added the conversion and did so again five minutes later after Craig Huby added a second try for the home side.

Pace

The prop forward produced a surprising turn of pace to burst clear and recover from Briscoe's ankle tap before crawling his way over the try-line.

But Rovers got themselves on the scoreboard minutes later as Peter Fox managed to slip over in the corner for his first score in five weeks after Paul Cooke delicately played him in.

Westerman slotted a penalty through the posts to reclaim some of Castleford's comfort zone, but Rovers wiped that out with two delightful tries in the space of three minutes.

Firstly, Shaun Briscoe crashed over from close range after Cooke had again created an opening then Daniel Fitzhenry broke away cleverly and sent in Dobson for his first try of the match.

Dobson subsequently kicked his third conversion of the game to give his side a four-point lead.

Control

However, the Tigers were back in the driving seat four minutes before the break when Ryan Hudson followed up on his own kick and then grabbed Dean Widders' offload to leap over the whitewash.

Westerman increased the advantage with another penalty early in the second half, but the visitors were to take a stranglehold on the game within 10 minutes.

Dobson snaked his way over with a lightning run that caught the Castleford defence flat-footed before Clint Newton teamed-up with second-row partner Ben Galea to send Colbon crashing over in the corner.

The Tigers desperately needed to halt the momentum but Kris Welham's stinging tackle caused Westerman to drop the ball close to the line, allowing Fox to race the length of the field for his 14th try of the season.

Kirk Netherton then supported Richard Owen's break to score against his former club and give the hosts a glimmer of hope but Briscoe snapped up Dobson's pass to kill the game off with 13 minutes left.

Moments before the hooter sounded, Briscoe cruised over the try-line for his hat-trick after a short pass from Cooke had set him free.