Castleford 46 Halifax 22
Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger
The Tigers bounced
back to winning ways with a comprehensive victory over Halifax at The Jungle
although Coach Terry Matterson will be a little disappointed to concede 3 tries
in the last 13 minutes as Fax made the score line more respectable.
Cas, at near full strength, with only Michael Shenton a late withdrawal with a
recurrence of a groin injury and Peter Lupton missing. Ryan Clayton and Dwayne
Barker moved up from the bench with Richard Owen and Michael Knowles making up
the 17, these being the only changes from last weeks game at Bradford.
Both teams started brightly and after only 4 minutes Danny Brough went close,
losing possession a couple of metres short of the line. The respite was short
lived as the scrum half’s long cut out pass saw Barker send Tommy Saxton in at
the corner. Brough added an excellent touchline conversion and the tigers were
6-0 in as many minutes.
Cas continued to press and Barker was unfortunate to lose the ball in the act of
scoring after a great break by Ryan McGoldrick, then the stand off’s long pass
was intercepted by Lee Greenwood as he looked to create an opportunity for Mike
Wainwright.
Fax were next to score as scrum half Ian Watson’s 40-20 set up the position for
Paul White to create the space for Greenwood to score wide out and Tim Hartley’s
touchline kick levelled the scores.
Cas then started to pile on the pressure and Brough’s pass created the space for
Clayton to charge over. Brough added the 2 and the Tigers went straight back on
the attack. First a great break by Andy Henderson and then Awen Guttenbiel
charged down a Watson kick, McGoldrick carried it on and Saxton was bundled into
touch. Then quick hands saw Brough, Clayton and Barker combine to send in Stuart
Donlan at the corner for an unconverted try.
Two more tries before half time sealed the victory as a Henderson break set up
the position before Saxton’s weaving run sent Wainwright in the corner. Then
following good work involving Guttenbiel, Dixon and McGoldrick the stand off
found the space to go over. Brough added conversions to both and Cas went in at
the break 28-6 up.
The 2nd half started as the first had ended and after for Tigers full back
Damian Gibson had been sent to the sin bin sub Craig Huby went close and from
the resultant play the ball skipper Henderson forced his way over. Brough added
the extras and was on hand to convert the final two Cas tries, both of which
were scored from close range by Huby.
At 46-6 Cas were in command and it the only further scores of the game came in
the final 13 minutes Sean Penkywicz grabbed one after a 1 on 1 steal from Liam
Higgins and Danny Jones helped himself to a brace.
For 60 minutes Cas played some scintillating rugby and with a bit more composure
could have scored more points, justifying their status as NL1 favourites
although they lost direction late on when Matterson made a few changes with
Brough, Henderson and Guttenbiel all being replaced and McGoldrick spending 10
minutes in the sin bin.
Guttenbiel, Chris Charles, Mark Leafa and Liam Higgins all got through plenty of
work and Huby gave an impressive stint of the bench. Brough was as busy as ever,
McGoldrick showed some good touches and the outside backs looked sharp. The
accolades deservedly go to skipper Andy Henderson who not only worked his socks
off all evening but worked well from dummy half and got on the score sheet with
a well taken try.
So on to the Keepmoat Stadium for our first televised clash of the season as
Doncaster Lakers play host in front of the Sky cameras with the Tigers no doubt
wanting to put in a big performance for the armchair audience to send a message
out to the rest of NL1.
With the backing of a travelling army of support Terry and the guys will look to
head home with the points secured.
Teams:-
Tigers:-
Saxton, Donlan, Clayton, Dixon, Wainwright, McGoldrick, Brough, Higgins,
Henderson, Leafa, Guttenbiel, Barker, Charles. Subs Glassie, Huby, Knowles, Owen
Fax:-
Gibson, George, Hartley, Varkulis, Greenwood, White, Watson, Southern, Penkywicz,
Wrench, Larder, Roberts, Ball. Subs Jones, Trinder, Joseph, Watene
Attendance 6284
Doncaster 4 Castleford 66
Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger
Another week, another win and a very emphatic victory
it was as Terry Matterson’s Tigers side destroyed Doncaster Lakers at The
Keepmoat Stadium.
A crowd of 6528 witnessed a superb display of attacking rugby with the Tigers
running in 13 tries including a hat-trick for Kirk Dixon and 2 apiece for Stuart
Donlan and Danny Brough as they really put on a show for the Sky cameras.
Scrum half Brough will rightly take the plaudits for an outstanding display but
this was hardly a one man show there were impressive displays throughout the
side.
A shell shocked Doncaster were under pressure from the off and when a long ball
on the last tackle by Brough found Dwayne Barker in a bit of space who in turn
offloaded in the tackle to Donlan who sent Chris Charles in for a score that was
confirmed by the video ref Ben Thaler. Brough tagged on the extras and was
successful again converting Andy Henderson’s try moments later. Mark Leafa
started the move with a lovely show of the ball and then offload to the
supporting Charles who in turn sent Henderson under the posts.
12-0 up and with only 5 minutes on the clock the warning signs were there and
although the Lakers battled hard prompted by scrum half Joel Penny they were
unable to break a robust Tigers defence.
It was a further 10 minutes before the Tigers crossed the try line again as
Charles followed up a Brough kick, which ricocheted of the upright, to ground
the ball. Ref Jamie Leahy again handed it on to the video ref who this time
ruled that Ryan Clayton had knocked on at the play the ball.
It wasn’t long before Thaler was called into action again as Ryan McGoldrick’s
solo effort, in which he brilliantly switched the ball from right to left hand
in the act of scoring, was confirmed. Brough was off target this time but was
back on target when Barker a couple of minutes later. Brough’s long pass found
Barker who fed Ryan Clayton. Clayton offloaded to Donlan who timed his inside
ball beautifully for Barker to cross for a well worked score.
Dixon was the next to score racing in from 25 metres after the space had been
created by a lovely run-around move between McGoldrick and Awen Guttenbiel.
Dixon then intercepted a loose pass and after good hands from Guttenbiel and sub
Tere Glassie created the opportunity winger Mike Wainwright took his chance well
cutting inside and forcing his way over. Brough was off target with both
conversions but at 30-0 at the break the Tigers were comfortable to say the
least.
The 2nd half started as the 1st had finished with the Tigers on the front foot
and Wainwright was bundled into touch near the corner after quick hands from
McGoldrick and Dixon.
It wasn’t long before Dixon was in for his 2nd try as he capitalised on a
mistake by Lakers full back Loz Wildbore who after collecting a McGoldrick kick
lost the ball in the tackle straight to the Tigers centre for the easiest of
scores.
Brough added the extras and then the scrum half showed some neat footwork for a
try of his own. Lakers scrum half Penny tried a little chip over for Wildbore
but unfortunately the bounce eluded him and Brough collected 55 metres out. A
couple of sidesteps later and he was racing away leaving the Doncaster defence
in his wake. Dixon converted from straight in front and moments later was
completing his try hat-trick.
Youngster Joe Westerman made a great break and fed the supporting Liam Higgins.
The prop charged for the line for what would have been a well deserved score but
was tackled a few metres short. A quick play the ball followed and good hands
from Barker and McGoldrick saw Dixon cross too far out for Brough’s conversion
attempt.
Cas were seemingly able to score whenever they attacked and Craig Huby was next
crashing over from close range then a Brough solo effort where he darted from
acting half back, jinked, danced and sidestepped into space and raced clear from
a tiring Lakers defence. The scrum half converted both tries and the score board
now showed 58 unanswered points.
Good work from McGoldrick and Dixon saw Wainwright bundled into touch near the
corner for a 2nd time but 2 minutes later the Tigers were in again. McGoldrick
and Dixon combined well down the right and then play switched across to the left
with Brough, Westerman and Barker handling before Clayton sent Donlan in for his
1st. Brough was unable to convert.
The Lakers finally got on the score board in the 73rd minute when a Westerman
pass was put down by Richard Owen, Joe Mbu picked and eventually sent a pass out
to Neil Lowe. The pass was not a good one but Lowe hacked on and was able to
ground the ball to break the duck. Wildbore missed the goal.
There was still time for one more Tigers try as in the final minute Westerman
broke and managed to find Brough in support. The scrum half was tackled just
short but the ball moved to the left for Barker and Clayton to once again
combine to send in Donlan for an unconverted score.
Terry Matterson must have been delighted with the display as the Tigers looked
rampant on attack and equally ferocious in defence. On this form it is easy to
see why they are favourites to gain promotion back to Super League. Widnes will
no doubt want to dispute that and their clash at The Jungle in front of the Sky
cameras next month is definitely one to look forward to.
Three consecutive home fixtures now for Cas with Batley Bulldogs the next
opponent.
Cas:- Saxton, Donlan, Barker, Dixon, Wainwright, McGoldrick, Brough,
Leafa, Henderson, Huby, Guttenbiel, Clayton, Charles. Subs Higgins, Glassie,
Westerman, Owen.
Doncaster:- Wildbore, Mills, Gorton, Andrews, Sheriffe, McLocklan, Penny,
Mbu, Green, Tandy, Robinson, Lowe, Lawton. Subs Adebisi, Rowe, Castle, Garmston.
Referee:- J Leahy
Attendance:- 6528
Castleford 75 Batley 12
Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger
Three out of three
in the Co-Operative National League 1 for the Castleford Tigers with another
demolition job secured at The Jungle.
Once again Terry Matterson was able to rotate his starting line-up Liam Higgins
and Tere Glassie starting instead of Craig Huby and Mark Leafa at prop and Sean
Johnson coming in for injured skipper Andy Henderson
Lucky 13 struck again for Matterson’s Tigers side as they racked up another
‘Try-Fest’ which included a hat-trick for Stuart Donlan, taking him to 13 for
the season, a brace for Richard Owen and Tommy Saxton and a 26 point haul from
Danny Brough.
The Tigers attacked at every opportunity and after going close through Dixon and
Saxton in the early minutes, Batley put pressure on the Cas line only for a pass
to the right to be intercepted by Brough who showed a clean pair of heels top
race the length of the field for a score in the corner.
He added the extras with a tremendous touchline conversion before tagging on a
further 2 points after Glassie crashed over for his 1st try of the campaign.
12-0 in 13 minuets soon became 18-0 in 18 minutes as Saxton got on the score
sheet for a try which was again converted by Brough.
Winger Donlan then got his 1st of the game following up a Brough kick. The scrum
half was unable to add the extras but was back on target a few minutes later
after Huby offloaded to Leafa who then sent Chris Charles under the posts.
Ryan McGoldrick was next to score as he broke through a couple of defenders and
raced fully 70 metres after Saxton had picked up a loose ball. Brough converted
and within a minute of his try the Aussie stand off bobbed over a drop goal to
take the Tigers 35 points clear with 32 minutes on the clock.
Two minutes later Donlan was in for his 2nd after good work from Joe Westerman
(who has signed a new 2 year deal which Mick Robinson announced in the SC bar).
Then Owen scored his first after Westerman, Leafa and Donlan had created the
opportunity. Brough having been unable to convert Donlan’s try added the extras
to give Cas an impressive 45-0 half time lead.
The 2nd half was only four minutes old when Kirk Dixon scored from a last tackle
‘power play’. Brough again converted and was again on target as first Huby
scored from close range and then Donlan completed his hat-trick.
2 more conversions followed for Brough as Saxton scored after good work from
Dwayne Barker and Johnson and then Owen dummied his way over for his 2nd taking
the Tigers to a 75-0 lead.
Credit has to go to the Bulldogs as they finished with a flourish, scoring 12
points in the final 5 minutes. Their first try came from full back Craig Lingard
and then after an Alex Clemie break Chris Langley crossed. Both were converted
be scrum half Ian Gordon.
The Tigers will be very pleased with their opening 3 performances in the NL1
competition racking up a massive 187 points whilst conceding only 38 in the
process.
McGoldrick and Brough were impressive today as was the finishing ability of
Donlan, Saxton and Owen. Up front there were tireless contributions from
Charles, Higgins Glassie, Huby and Leafa
The NL1 competition breaks for a week now as the NR cup takes centre stage and
Castleford Tigers entertain Workington as they look towards a trip to Blackpool
in July and hopefully the first trophy of the season
Cas:- Saxton, Donlan, Clayton, Dixon, Wainwright, McGoldrick, Brough,
Higgins, Johnson, Glassie, Guttenbiel, Barker, Charles, Subs. Westerman, Owen,
Huby, Leafa.
Batley:- Lingard, Clemie, Mossop, Langley, Marns, Patterson, Gordon,
Rourke, Lythie, Stenchion, Cooke, Spears, McLoughlan. Subs Lindsay, Hendreson,
Menzies, Simpson
Attendance:- 5223
Castleford 56 Rochdale 6
Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger
The Tigers
extended their winning run in the National League to 4 games and are sitting
proud in top spot after beating Rochdale at the Jungle by 56-6 in front of 4645
spectators.
The Tigers were able to welcome back Peter Lupton and Michael Shenton after
injury and there were recalls for Ryan Clayton, Chris Charles and Awen
Guttenbiel, who skippered the side in Andy Henderson’s absence.
It took 17 minutes for the Tigers to get on the score board as Liam Higgins
crashed over from close range to record his 1st try in Cas colours and in doing
so ensured that he didn’t have to compete in the now traditional end of season
naked run. CTSC Player of the Month for March Danny Brough added the extras but
was off target after Shenton scored the first of his hat-trick of tries after
Tommy Saxton had gone close.
Scrum half Brough and Shenton combine for the next 2 tries as winger Stuart
Donlan crossed for a brace, taking his try tally to 15 for the season. Bough
added the conversion to Donlan’s 2nd try and the Tigers lead was 20-0 at the
break. Rochdale’s best effort of the 1st half came from hooker Dave McConnell
was tackled just short after 28 minutes after a Keiron Cunningham style dart
from acting half.
The 2nd half started well for the Tigers as first Kirk Dixon intercepted a Paul
Anderson pass to race 40 metres for a try which Brough converted and within 3
minutes Guttenbiel stretched his way over in the corner after Dixon, Mike
Wainwright and Ryan McGoldrick, sporting a new Darth Maul style haircut, had all
handled.
Shenton then crossed for his 2nd after some Harlem Globetrotters handling
involving more than half the side had created the space. Brough once again
converted and was also on target after Dwayne Barker scored after McGoldrick,
Brough and Lupton had all handled. All 3 once again combined for Tommy Saxton to
score as Cas approached another half century of points.
Brough converted and the Tigers were 48-0 to the good but frustratingly their
inability to ‘nil’ the opposition raised it’s ugly head as Phil Hasty weaved his
way through for a try that was converted by former Tiger Kevin King.
Cas completed the scoring with 2 late tries from Dixon, his 2nd and then Shenton
completed his hat-trick. Brough was off target with both conversion but the
score line was convincing enough in the end.
A sterner test now awaits the Tigers with an away trip to Leigh before we host
the Widnes Vikings in a match being televised by SKY.
Cas:- Saxton, Donlan, Shenton, Dixon, Wainwright, McGoldrick, Brough,
Higgins, Charles, Leafa, Guttenbiel, Clayton, Lupton. Subs Barker, Glassie,
Boyle Johnson
Hornets:- Andrews, Johnson, Patterson, King, Fagborun, Hasty, Hulse,
Baldwin, McConnell, Bailey, Gledhill, Goulden. Subs Robinson, Blanchard,
Anderson, Norman.
Leigh 24 Castleford 32
Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger
If the Tigers were
playing Monopoly and not Rugby League then Terry Matterson’s boys certainly took
a chance and perfectly timed the paying of their ‘Get out of Jail, Free’ card to
take the spoils in a tough encounter at Hilton Park.
The Tigers welcomed back skipper Andy Henderson at hooker in place of Sean
Johnson at hooker and youngster Richard Owen came into the 17 replacing the
injured Ryan Clayton.
The Tigers started well and Chris Charles crossed the Leigh line only to be held
up but the pressure created by forcing consecutive sets of 6 told and Danny
Brough was soon dancing his way over the whitewash for a try which he converted
to give Cas a 6-0 nil lead.
Next to go close was winger Mike Wainwright who was held up after good work down
the short side by Ryan McGoldrick. The missed opportunity proved to be costly as
the Centurions hit back in fine style with Martin Ainscough, who was impressive
at stand off, stepping through a gap to go round Tommy Saxton for a try under
the posts. French centre Damien Couturier converted to level the scores as he
did 10 minutes later when fullback Miles Greenwood after a creative passing move
on the last tackle.
In between the Tigers saw Saxton held up over the line and McGoldrick lose the
ball in the act of scoring after Peter Lupton had intercepted 65 metres out and
fed the stand off to give him a 40 metre run to the line.
Leigh piled on the pressure and when Brough was penalised Couturier was unable
to convert the goal attempt. The Cas line held firm withstanding substantial and
almost went into the half time break level after Awen Guttenbiel’s offload saw
Lupton tackled just short.
Trailing 12-6 the large Tigers following were hoping for an early score but
unfortunately that went to the Centurions as hooker Sam Butterworth broke to
send Aaron Heremaia racing in for a try which Couturier was again able to
convert.
Cas began to claw their way back into the game as first Michael Shenton sent a
pass to Owen which was ruled forward then a kick through by Kirk Dixon forced
Greenwood to push the ball dead. The game was starting to get frustrating for
the Tigers and their following and it got worse as a kick by Brough was chased
by Lupton who touched down only to be ruled offside by the officials.
The sustained pressure then forced the Leigh line to crack as a well timed run
from Lupton saw him take McGoldrick’s clever pass to charge over for a try which
Brough again converted.
Moments later Butterworth broke deep into Cas territory only for winger David
Alstead to knock on and a chance went to waste. Butterworth was then sent to the
sin bin for interference in the tackle. From the resultant penalty the position
was set and Brough fired out a long pass left to Shenton to send Owen in the
corner. Brough was off target with the conversion but the Tigers were now within
2 points.
A long pass by McGoldrick was intercepted by Ainscough and the Leigh stand off
raced 40 metres to score and again Couturier converted. McGoldrick soon made
amends when he sent Stuart Donlan through a gap and was then on hand to receive
Donlan’s pass to score under the posts. Brough converted and with only 7 minutes
left Cas were 24-22 down.
Four minutes later and the Tigers were in front after a cracking offload from
substitute Ryan Boyle, who was once again impressive; Brough then sent an
overhead pass to Dixon who scored in the corner. Brough was off target again but
was back on target in the last minute with a conversion form wide out after he
had sent in Lupton for his 2nd try of the game with a neat inside pass.
If it was a tough workout that the Tigers needed in preparation for the game
against Widnes then the trip to Hilton Park certainly provided it but whilst not
being at their most fluent they still came away with the points.
Leigh:- Greenwood, Rivett, Couturier, Halliwell, Alstead, Ainscough,
Heremaia, Stevens, Butterworth, Taylor, Roberts, Stewart. Subs Hughes,
Pemberton, Styles, Astin
Cas:- Saxton, Donlan, Shenton, Dixon, Wainwright, McGoldrick, Brough,
Higgins, Henderson, Guttenbiel, Barker, Charles, Lupton Subs Owen, Glassie,
Leafa, Boyle