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By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Castleford felt the full might of the most potent attacking force in Super League as reigning champions St Helens cruised to an eighth successive win to join neighbouring Wigan at the top of the table. Kiwi powerhouse Kevin Iro was reunited with his centre partner Paul Newlove to provide a cutting edge that ripped the Tigers apart in a competitive but ultimately predictable rumble in the Jungle. Saints had the game virtually sewn up at half-time, when they led 22-4, and they were 32-10 ahead until a spirited late rally brought two consolation tries for Castleford left winger Darren Rogers. Iro, nicknamed the 'Beast' for his ability to destroy teams with his rampaging runs, left a trail of defenders in his wake as he surged over for a 17th-minute try to take his tally to 12 in the last six matches. And Newlove, returning after a five-match absence with a calf injury, was equally unstoppable as Saints overcame the absence of points machine Sean Long to maintain their unbeaten record under coach Ian Millward. The only blot on the horizon for Saints, who were able to bring back full-back Paul Atcheson and Great Britain loose forward Paul Sculthorpe from injury, was the loss of key forwards Keiron Cunningham and Sonny Nickle with leg injuries sustained in the first half. The Tigers enjoyed the early dominance and they had the first of three tries disallowed by video referee Paul Lee inside the first minute when winger Jon Wells narrowly failed to ground the ball after Atcheson could not clear a loose ball. Tommy Martyn did his best to make up for the absence of Long when his long, raking kick to the corner set up Anthony Sullivan for a 10th-minute try which he converted from the touchline. Newlove then made the running for a 26th-minute try for skipper Chris Joynt and combined with Iro to get substitute John Stankovich over as the Tigers defence crumbled with alarming ease. Martyn, deputising at scrum-half, kicked three of his four conversion attempts to put his side into what proved to be an unassailable 22-4 lead. Castleford, also hit by the absence of key players in Brad Davis, Aaron Raper and Dale Fritz, were forced to switch Jason Flowers from full-back to the pack following injury to Lee Harland. Their only score of the first half came from prop Darren Shaw's first try for the club, a short-range effort which came courtesy of a delayed short pass from Danny Orr. Orr created a second try for half-back partner Andrew Purcell with another pass timed to perfection but normal service was resumed when danger man Newlove once more broke the shackles to burst clear down the left and send Sullivan over for his second try. When Fereti Tuilagi broke free to send Martyn in for Saints' sixth try on 57 minutes and Martyn kicked his fourth goal, the game was over as a contest. But the Tigers gained some respectability and exposed defensive deficiencies on Saints' right flank when centre Logan Campbell's 50-metre run set up Rogers, who was also awarded a penalty try after being obstructed by former Castleford winger Chris Smith. Castleford 26 Huddersfield/Sheffield 6 © PA Sporting Life Castleford mounted a successful second-half fightback as bottom club Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants faded badly after a promising first half. The Giants were 6-4 up at half-time but crashed to their fifth straight defeat after Cas scored four second-half tires. Winger Darren Rogers gave the Tigers an important boost with two touchdowns in five minutes. Castleford could not have made a better start. They took a second-minute lead when hooker Ian Tonks went over from acting half after Danny Orr made a superb midfield run. The Giants missed a chance to level when Jeff Hardy split open the Castleford defence near the right hand corner but was unable to find the supporting Paul Reilly. Further Giants pressure resulted in David Lomax sending Gene Ngamu in after 17 minutes to make it 4-4. In a dull first half, the Giants edged ahead with a 31st-minute penalty goal from Ngamu. The Tigers started the second half with a quick try. Andrew Purcell, Adrian Vowles and Mike Eagar handled to send Rogers in at the corner. Rogers got his second five minutes later with an 80-metre interception after Jeff Hardy was unable to catch Gavin Clinch's pass. Tonks sent stand off Purcell in for a 60th-minute try which Orr improved. The Tigers rounded things off four minutes from time when Gareth Dobson sent fellow substitute Andrew Lynch over and Orr kicked his third goal. © PA Sporting Life Warrington Wolves slumped to their third successive home defeat after they had no answers to Castleford Tigers' storming come-back at Wilderspool. The Wolves started in impressive fashion and built up a 14-0 lead after 25 minutes. Frenchman Jerome Guisset opened the scoring with a 12th-minute try and the second-row forward grabbed a second try seven minutes later with Lee Briers kicking one conversion. And the Wolves increased their lead when Briers made a break and winger Alan Hunte kicked on the stand-off's pass and won the race to touch down. But the Tigers hit back with two tries in three minutes at the end of the half to claw their way back into the game. Barrie-Jon Mather touched down on his return to the Tigers' ranks from Sale and then a sparkling 80-metre four-man move ended with Mather sending Michael Eagar over under the post. Danny Orr landed both conversions to cut Warrington's lead to just two points. Castleford maintained their momentum straight after the restart and crossed again just three minutes into the second period through prop forward Nathan Sykes. Then when Warrington hooker Danny Sarrar was sin-binned for a trip the Tigers ran in three tries in his absence through Logan Campbell (2) and Orr. Orr landed three conversions as the Tigers scored 34 points without reply to build up a commanding 34-14 advantage. Castleford completed a well-deserved victory when Orr landed a further penalty and drop goal to give him a personal tally of 17 points, while Warrington's second-half points came from tries by Jon Roper and Sarrar with Roper landing two goals. Danny Orr scored a try and kicked five goals from as many attempts as Castleford logged their fourth Super League victory in five games. Two tries in seven minutes shortly before half-time gave the fourth-placed Tigers a 12-0 lead and they ran away with the game after the interval. England stand-off Orr was Castleford's man of the match, forming a highly effective half-back partnership with Brad Davis who was returning from a four-match injury lay-off. Salford, with half-backs Steve Blakeley and Darren Brown in lively form, gave the Tigers early problems and Castleford's efforts to break the deadlock were spoiled by wayward passing. Salford prop Neil Baynes was sin-binned in the 24th minute for deliberate offside after Orr attempted to break clear from a quickly taken tap penalty. Former Reds winger Darren Rogers had a touchdown disallowed for off-side three minutes later after chasing Aaron Raper's kick. Castleford finally broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute when Davis regathered his own kick and fed Orr, who put winger Barrie-Jon Mather over. The Tigers shot further in front seconds before the break when Raper sent Orr tearing through, and the stand-off also added his second goal. The Reds had a let-off four minutes into the second half when Davis was unable to gather Orr's kick over the line. But the Tigers stretched their lead in the 57th minute when Orr and Davis made the opening for skipper Adrian Vowles to cross. The Tigers went 24-0 up in the 63rd minute when full-back Jason Flowers got their fourth try. Salford's only points came four minutes later when captain Brown went in, but the Tigers had the final say when substitute Jamie Benn collected their fifth try and Orr tagged on his fifth goal. By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Great Britain captain Andy Farrell became the first player to reach 1,000 Super League points to steer Wigan to the double over their one-time bogey side. The free-scoring loose forward scored the game's first try after only seven minutes and went on to kick five goals from eight attempts as Wigan bounced back from their Good Friday derby defeat at St Helens to draw level with leaders Bradford. But classy Castleford, who won all three matches against Wigan last year, were no pushovers and were well in contention at 12-10 early in the second half. Two tries in three minutes from Terry Newton and Willie Peters then made it 24-10 and a sparkling long-range try from debutant winger David Hodgson finally ended the brave challenge of the Yorkshiremen. Hodgson, 18, who got his chance when speedy Australian Test winger Brett Dallas was forced off through injury early in the second half, demonstrated exceptional pace to support a break out of defence by full-back Wes Davies. Dallas had earlier scorched over for his eighth try of the season after smart work at stand-off by Jason Robinson. And, in a game of high quality defence and top-class entertainment, Castleford also laid claims to the try of the season, a scintillating 50-metre effort from full-back Jason Flowers made by a superb back-flip pass from substitute Andrew Purcell. Castleford penetrated the Warriors defence just once in the first half, when stand-off Danny Orr chipped over their defence and half-back partner Brad Davis twice hacked on to claim the touchdown, which Orr goaled. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Davis went off with a rib injury midway through the first half and the visitors badly missed his prompting and tactical kicking. Castleford also let their usual impressive disciplinary record slip, with prop Dean Sampson twice warned by referee Stuart Cummings for high tackles before being placed on report for another suspect challenge on Dallas. Sampson made the most of his let-off by charging through for Castleford's second try five minutes into the second half to give his side renewed hope at 12-10. But Wigan, who had second rower Mick Cassidy placed on report for a late tackle on Orr, finished the stronger side and thoroughly deserved a precious victory. |
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