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PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Castleford withstood a second-half onslaught to record their fifth victory in the last seven games in front of a season's best 8,067 crowd at The Valley. The Tigers looked to be cruising to a comfortable victory at half-time when they led 16-6 but the Broncos hit back only to lose concentration with victory in sight. Five thousand Castleford fans roared their side to a dream start, Nathan Sykes crossing the line from a Jason Flowers pass after only seven minutes. Danny Orr was successful with his first kick. Three minutes later the Tigers crossed the line again, Brad Davis amazingly passing with three Broncos players in attendance to Michael Eagar to power his way over the line. Davis again set up Eagar after 23 minutes, the Castleford centre brushing off a poor Frank Napoli challenge to touch down for the second time. Orr's kick gave his side a 16-point lead. The Broncos, who until this point looked distinctly ordinary, started their amazing fightback after 29 minutes. Jon Clarke, Tulsen Tollett, Glen Air and Brett Warton all combined with quick hands to send Andy Johnson across the line. Warton's kick was successful, reducing the lead to 10 points. Jon Wells wasted a glorious chance to extend the Tigers' lead three minutes into the second half, Dom Peters forcing the knock-on with the line at the winger's mercy. This gave the Broncos great heart and 14 minutes later Clarke, Tollett and Warton worked an opening for Karle Hammond to score, Warton's second successful kick reducing the arrears to one try. The Broncos pulled themselves level after 66 minutes, Steele Retchless racing a full 50 metres to the line after picking up Dean Callaway's pass at first receiver. Warton missed his kick from the touchline and the Tigers exploited the error as three minutes later Barrie-Jon Mather beat Air on the outside for a four-pointer. The Tigers eventually made the game safe six minutes from time, Orr getting out another amazing pass to Ian Tonks who barged his way over the line. The Broncos clawed back some ground two minutes from the end, Hammond passing to Tollett to cross in the corner, but it was too little too late. London coach John Monie admitted his side pressed the self-destruct button and said: "We weren't real smart when it counted. "When the game was there to be won we kicked the ball into row F on fifth tackle. "The opponent beat us because of our own errors. It is called pressing the self-destruct button. We are real close to turning it around however." Tigers coach Stuart Raper was equally unhappy with his side's performance and said: "I thought at 16-0 we should have run away with it. We let them back into the game when we went into our shell. "London played some good footie and if you let the likes of Tollett and Warton run with the ball you are going to be in some trouble. "I'm glad that we got two points and I'm just disappointed with our performance." By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Bradford powered their way to a hard-fought victory that puts them two points clear of St Helens at the top of Super League. Explosive running from forward Jamie Peacock softened up the Castleford defence and 19-stone substitute Paul Anderson, the heaviest and arguably most powerful man in Super League, finished them off with a brace of tries. In between, the Paul brothers displayed their dazzling skills and the Tigers simply had no answer to the lethal combination of brain and brawn. Peacock, whose outstanding form has brought him into the reckoning for the England World Cup squad, broke through the Castleford defence twice in three minutes midway through the first half to set up the position from which centre Scott Naylor and scrum-half Paul Deacon scored tries. A first drop goal in Super League by Bradford second rower David Boyle was all that separated the two sides for the first 15 minutes of a keenly-fought encounter. But Henry Paul, who broke through the 1,000 points in British rugby barrier on the night, edged his side further ahead with a penalty - the first of seven successes - and then added both conversions to make it 15-0. But Castleford, who held the Bulls to an 18-18 draw in the corresponding fixture last season, were in no mood to lie down. Winger Darren Rogers palmed back a towering kicking from scrum-half Brad Davis, who was on hand to pick up the loose ball and dive over for a well-taken try, which Danny Orr goaled from the touchline. But Orr failed with an ambitious 45-metre penalty early in the second half and Bulls skipper Robbie Paul was quick to counter attack with a magical, weaving run that almost got McAvoy over at the corner. The winger was hauled back from the line by a three-man tackle but the Tigers defence was in disarray and there was no stopping Anderson when he came on the charge to race onto Henry Paul's pass and crash over for his side's third try. Paul's goal made it 21-6 and Castleford's problems worsened when influential hooker Aaron Raper, who had looked less than fully fit, was replaced by Andrew Purcell. Still the Tigers never gave up, though, and Henry Paul, named in the team sheet at centre but playing full-back in the continuing absence of Stuart Spruce and Michael Withers, was forced to show his defensive mettle. The meanest defence in Super League cracked a second time on 61 minutes when prop Dean Sampson used his brute force to defy a trio of tacklers and plant the ball over the line. But normal service was quickly resumed and Bradford finished with a flurry with three more tries in the last 14 minutes. Robbie Paul collected a neat chip kick from half-back partner Paul Deacon to touch down and, as the Tigers' defence tired, Anderson and James Lowes powered their way over to pile on the agony for the home side. By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Castleford rode their luck to end Hull's winning run and secure the points that strengthen their Super League top-four spot. Two defeats in their previous three games had cast doubt over the Tigers' play-off prospects but they bounced back in determined fashion to complete the double over the East Yorkshire club. Hull, who missed the chance to take over fourth spot themselves for the first time in the era of Super League, had three tries disallowed and were in the game until Castleford clinched victory with two tries in the last 17 minutes. Centre Michael Eagar was the hero, scoring one try and creating one for winger Darren Rogers, while stand-off Danny Orr scored the other try and kicked three goals. The home side went ahead after only four minutes when second row forward Adam Maher finished off a superb move in which the ball passed through eight pairs of hands. Young half-backs Richard Horne and Paul Cooke, heavily involved in that delightful piece of play, were at the heart of some attractive approach work as Hull dominated the first half. But Shaun McRae's men found it impossible to breach the tough Castleford defence a second time, with winger Matt Daylight going closest on 16 minutes when he hit the corner flag as he touched down. Hull would have been further ahead had full-back Ben Sammut not missed with both his goal kicks. He was wide with the conversion attempt and was also off target with a penalty after Paul Broadbent had been tackled high by Tigers second rower Lee Harland, who was put on report for the challenge. Castleford had barely threatened the Hull try line until just before the break when Eagar took Brad Davis' pass to race through a gap and send Rogers over for his 10th try of the season. It was a similar story in the second half as Hull pummeled away at the visitors line but with little to show for their territorial supremacy. They had a second try disallowed when Daylight broke out of his own half after gathering up a kick from Davis but delayed his final pass too long to the supporting Horne and referee Steve Ganson gave a forward pass. The exchanges were often scrappy, with both sides guilty of handling errors, but the tense encounter kept the 6,501 spectators spellbound until the issue was finally settled on 63 minutes. Castleford skipper Adrian Vowles' pass to Eagar was knocked down by defender Steve Collins and Eagar hacked the ball forward and followed up to grab the vital touch. Orr kicked his third conversion and put the seal on the win by cutting through for a solo try to give the final scoreline a flattering look. Hull then had a third try disallowed in injury time when Daylight was ruled to be offside as he chased a kick from Cooke. By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport © PA Sporting Life Leeds maintained their revival with two tries in the last 11 minutes to secure a seventh successive win in Saturday night's Super League top-five clash at Headingley. The Rhinos trailed for most of the second half but struck the decisive blow on 69 minutes when Australian forward David Barnhill went through a tired defence for the crucial score, although he appeared to put a foot on the dead-ball line as he touched down. And fellow countryman Graham Mackay grabbed another try in injury time to clinch a victory that takes the Rhinos level with their arch rivals in joint fourth place. The outcome was perhaps a touch harsh on the Tigers, who were beaten by their arch rivals in the last minute of the game at Wheldon Road a month ago, but they paid price for a lack of possession, having spent virtually the whole of the second half on defence. Leeds were forced to overcome the loss of star forward Adrian Morley and veteran playmaker Daryl Powell through injury and had to grind out the precious points that keeps their title hopes well and truly alive. Castleford attacked brightly from the kick-off and repeatedly breached the Leeds defence, with prop Nathan Sykes proving a handful on his return from injury and full-back Jason Flowers linking superbly to run into the gaps. Flowers was denied a try after only two minutes through a forward pass and was then brought down just short of the line after a clean break by Barrie-Jon Mather. Leeds full-back Francis Cummins intercepted Mather's pass from the next play-the-ball and raced 90 metres to the other end only to be brought back after being adjudged offside. Danny Orr missed the resultant penalty and, against the run of play, the Rhinos took the lead when Great Britain centre Keith Senior pounced on a grubber kick from Ryan Sheridan to claim his seventh try in five games. A magnificent converted try from England stand-off Orr, who started and finished a sparkling handling move, gave the Tigers a deserved lead but the Rhinos soaked up all the pressure and hit back with another breakaway try through second rower Kevin Sinfield. However, the Tigers shook off that disappointment and the blow of losing skipper Adrian Vowles with a leg injury to regain the lead in first-half injury time when second rower Dale Fritz took advantage of some sloppy Rhinos tackling near the line to crash over. Orr added his second conversion, whereas Leeds skipper Iestyn Harris, who needed just seven points to register 1,000 in Super League, was off target with both his goalkicks to leave the Rhinos trailing by four points at the break. Leeds stepped up a gear in the second half and Castleford needed to scramble to keep their line intact, with Richard Gay clearing up effectively after switching to full-back. The Rhinos out to have made more of a clean break by Mackay but Karl Pratt was held and then Sykes got back to pull Sheridan down with the line beckoning. As the tension mounted, Barnhill finished off a sustained spell of pressure with the all-important try and Mackay piled on the agony when he followed up a kick-ahead by substitute Gareth Raynor to touch down for his side's fourth try and Harris kicked his second goal. © PA Sporting Life Castleford's England international Dean Sampson was sent off as the Tigers completed a Super League double over the Wildcats. The veteran prop, who was dismissed in the same fixture last season, got his marching orders for striking Wakefield back row Willie Poching just short of the hour. And it almost cost his side dearly as Wakefield came strong in the final stages. Depleted Cas had to defend grimly late on to make it four wins in five Super League games. After absorbing early pressure, the Tigers enjoyed a strong opening quarter. Second row Ian Tonks went close and winger Jon Wells forced his way over the line, only to be pulled back for stepping out of play. Michael Eagar was hauled back as he went after his own kick ahead and from the subsequent penalty, Cas continued to press. Full-back Richard Gay and stand-in second row Jason Flowers were held up before Danny Orr sent Eagar over for his 11th try of the season. Stand-off Orr converted to make it 6-0. Wakefield leveled matters on 26 minutes when back row Jamie Field burrowed his way over from acting half-back after Warren Jowett was halted just short, a try improved by Bobbie Goulding. But Wakefield made a hash of the restart and from a scrum 20 metres from the Wildcats' line, Castleford switched play to the right and Wells took Barrie-Jon Mather's pass to shrug off opposite number Neil Law for an unconverted try. Wells claimed his second of the game seven minutes into the second half when he won the race to ground a neat kick from Castleford's man of the match winning half-back Brad Davis and Castleford looked home and dry at 14-6 ahead. But just short of the hour Davis was taken late by Poching and substitute Sampson meted out his own form of retribution by flattening the Wakefield second row with a swinging arm. The penalty was awarded to Castleford for the first offence and Orr made no mistake to stretch the lead to 16-6. The dismissal of Sampson took its toll in the final quarter and Tony Kemp's side closed to within four points when former Cas player Francis Maloney broke clear to send Jowett sliding over the line. Chances came at both ends in a heart-stopping finish but the Wildcats could not break through a resolute Tigers defence. Wakefield substitute Gareth Ellis thought he had earned his side a share of the points in stoppage time but was called back for a forward pass. |
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