Tigers find their roar

Dixon scored two tries and kicked nine goals

Castleford put their disappointing Super League form behind them with a13-try Challenge Cup victory over Rochdale on Sunday.

Joe Arundel, Kirk Dixon, Steve Snitch, Nathan Massey and Daryl Clark all scored twice and Rangi Chase, Adam Milner and Richard Owen also crossed to end the Tigers' four-game losing streak.

With last season's fourth-round defeat to lower-league Barrow still in their memories, Castleford were given an early scare when Scott Yates opened the scoring at Spotland.

But it was one-way traffic thereafter, save for a second half consolation try by Andy Saywell, as the home side struggled to keep pace with their Super League rivals.

The visitors clicked into gear after trailing 6-0 12 minutes in thanks to Yates' try and stand-off Paul Crook's conversion, running in four tries in 14 minutes.

Teenaged winger Greg Eden started things off with a 70-metre break on his competitive debut that ended with Dixon going over in the corner.

Arundel grabbed his first of the afternoon four minutes later and then Chase took advantage of some poor tackling to touch down.

Weakening

The Hornets went close to scoring a second but, with the tryline seemingly at their mercy, Crook threw a panicked pass forward and the moment was lost as the Tigers hit back instantly, running the full length of the pitch to put Arundel over again and make it 22-6 at the half.

Any hopes the hosts may have had of staging an unlikely fightback however, were soon squashed as the Tigers ran in five tries within 15 minutes of the restart.

With the Championship One side visibly tiring, replacements Snitch and Massey each bagged a brace and Clark.completed the quintet.

Milner needed only to shrug off a tackle by a rapidly weakening home defence to score before Clark sped in unopposed from 40 metres for his second.

Dixon punished an increasingly ragged defence, although the home fans were give an albeit brief cause to celebrate when Saywell went over in the corner.

But Owen silenced their cheers when he crossed for the Tigers' 13th try late on to complete the rout.