Hull KR 27-26 Castleford: McGuire nails golden point drop-goal
Last Updated: 04/08/19 7:06pm
A drop goal from veteran half-back Danny McGuire in golden-point extra time helped Hull KR to a pulsating 27-26 victory over Castleford that could prove crucial in their Super League survival bid.
They trailed 26-14 after an hour, but centre Ben Crooks grabbed a lifeline with two tries in a four-minute spell and winger Ryan Shaw took his goal tally to five from as many attempts to tie the scores.
Both sides missed with a flurry of drop-goal attempts as they sought to break the deadlock, but the game went into extra time and McGuire, who is retiring at the end of the season, came up with the match-winning point.
With bottom club London Broncos losing at home to Salford, Rovers are two points clear of danger with five matches left to play, while Castleford remain outside the top five after experiencing a second golden-point away defeat of the season.
Rovers, who gave debuts to new signings Dean Hadley and Jez Litten, led 12-0 and 14-6 in the first half but trailed at half-time after conceding an eight-point try - the second of the round.
Castleford had no answer in the early stages to the kicking of half-back Josh Drinkwater, whose grubbers into the in-goal area created tries for prop Daniel Murray - his first for the club - and full-back Adam Quinlan.
The visitors also scored from an attacking kick, stand-off Peter Mata'utia touching down his own grubber, while full-back Jordan Rankin collected Jake Trueman's lofted punt and pulled out of Quinlan's attempted tackle to touch down.
Mata'utia's second conversion cut the gap to just two points and they went in front for the first time six minutes before half-time, when winger James Clare gathered another precision kick from Trueman to force his way over the line.
Referee Chris Kendall decided the winger was fouled in the act of scoring and Mata'utia turned it into an eight-point try to put his side into a 20-14 lead.
Rovers were pressing for an equaliser early in the second half when their passing broke down 15 metres out from the line and Mata'utia pounced on the loose ball to get centre Greg Minikin away for an opportunist try.
Mata'utia made it five from five with the boot to extend his side's lead to 26-14, but the game took another twist when Crooks went over for two tries in four minutes.
He finished off a break from hooker Chris Atkin to score his first and then beat his opposite number Cheyse Blair to regather the ball from McGuire's high kick and force his way over for his second.
Shaw maintained his 100 per cent record by kicking his fifth goal to lock up the scores and set up a frenzied last 15 minutes.
McGuire was narrowly wide with his first drop-goal attempt and had another charged down by prop Liam Watts before the Tigers were awarded a penalty for a ball strip and Mata'utia was off target for the first time.
Drinkwater, who had attempted an unsuccessful drop-goal attempt on the stroke of half-time, was then wide with another one-point effort and Trueman was also off target as the game entered extra time.
Rovers had first use of the ball and McGuire set up the position for the winning score with a 40-20 kick before supplying the finishing touches.
