Castleford 20 Widnes 44

Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger

Castleford Tigers unbeaten start to the National League campaign ended against Widnes in this top of the table clash at The Jungle in front of a crowd of 6007 and the Sky TV cameras.

The Vikings were deserved winners making the Tigers look out of sorts and unorganised as they had clearly done their homework and stifled the home sides attacking options.

Most impressive for Widnes were hooker Mark Smith, Bob Beswick and Paul Noone and former Tigers players Jordan James and Damien Blanch both scored on their return to The Jungle whilst the individual honours for the Tigers went out to the youngsters Richard Owen, celebrating his new contract, and Ryan Boyle.

The game started at a pace and after exchanging penalties Widnes were first to trouble the scorers on 5 minutes when Smith kicked through for Gavin Dodd to score. Centre Mick Nanyn missed with the conversion attempt but soon made amends when on target 7 minutes later after Noone’s break was supported by Smith who scored under the posts.

Cas hit straight back when Danny Brough’s high kick off was knocked on and from the resulting scrum Widnes were penalised for offside. Brough took a quick tap and fired out a long pass to Owen who rounded Blanch to score in the corner.

Brough was off target with the conversion attempt and the only other points of the half went the way of Widnes as Nanyn landed a 40 metre penalty goal on 20 minutes.

Former Tigers winger Blanch made a couple of breaks and a couple of Brough bombs were spilled as neither side could breach the other sides defence to create any clear cut opportunities to leave the score at the break Cas 4 Widnes 12.

Most in the ground probably thought that the Tigers needed to score first after the restart and when Ryan Boyle charged towards the line it looked like they might but the ball was lost in the act of scoring and the referee Mr Taberner awarded a knock on.

Three Widnes tries in a nine minute spell then took the game out of reach as another former Tiger crashed over after supporting a Mark Smith break then Ian Webster collected a kick through from Dennis Moran for a try awarded by the video ref. Nanyn converted both and when the video ref awarded a try to Mark Smith, which Nanyn could not convert, the score board showed Cas 4 Widnes 28.

Seven minutes later Blanch scored in the corner after a break by Andy Kirk and again Nanyn was off target with the conversion attempt.

Cas showed a bit of fight and spirit as they found good field position. Tommy Saxton then ran well and found Stuart Donlan who scored a try which Brough duly converted and he was on target again converting his own try after 77 minutes to make the score 16-32.

The last 3 minutes saw a further 3 tries. Beswick scored from a Smith kick through, Nanyn converted, then Guttenbiel’s loose pass was hacked on by Blanch to score and again Nanyn converted.

The last word went to the Tigers as Donlan gathered the loose ball from the kick off to race 40 metres for a try in the corner to make the final score Cas 20 Widnes 44.

A disappointing night at the office for Terry Matterson’s side and it’s important that next weeks NR Cup Quarter Final against Leigh Centurions who will be seeking to avenge their recent defeat at the hands of the Tigers.

Tigers:- Donlan, Owen, Shenton, Dixon, Wainwright, McGoldrick, Brough, Higgins, Henderson, Glassie, Guttenbiel, Barker, Charles. Subs Boyle, Saxton, Lupton, Leafa

Vikings:- Grix, Blanch, Kirk, Nanyn, Dodd, Moran, Webster, Cassidy, Smith, Wilkes, Doran, Noone, Beswick. Subs Summers, James, Gaskell, Price

 Halifax 14 Castleford 30

Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger

In what many people thought could be a tricky fixture, Castleford Tigers did what they had to do in front of a crowd of 2990, including a large contingent from Castleford.

For 65 minutes of the game it looked like we may finally manage the elusive nilling , but as per the last game against Halifax , the last 15 minutes proved to be eventful.

The opening few minutes saw Halifax put the Cas line under pressure and Cas been forced into a goal line dropout. A few minutes later saw Danny Brough kicked out on the full to put the Tigers under further pressure. From this Halifax once again pressed the Cas line, only to see an interception from Mike Wainwright, who carried for 60 metres before being stopped. From the this the ball was fed out left to Brough, who with his usual bullet pass, fed Shenton who crashed over to open the scoring on 8 minutes.

Four minutes later good work from Cas saw Ryan McGoldrick drop off to Mark Leafa, who subsequently took the 4 points on offer. Brough converted this taking the score to 10-0 after 12 minutes.

A neat chip over and chase by Stuart Donlan soon followed and cas appeared to have scored again , only for it to be ruled out for offside.

20 minutes of the game gone and Danny Brough was replaced by Joe Westerman and that was the end of Danny’s day.

Following more good work from Cas , Ryan McGoldrick was once again the provider after he fed Awen Guttenbiel for a four pointer. This was successfully converted by Kirk Dixon.

8 Minutes later and McGoldrick was at it again, following a few offloads and neat passes , the ball found its way to McGoldrick who put the kick in the air which, after a bit of juggling was collected by Kirk Dixon who went over to make the score now 20-0. This try once again went unconverted and this was the half-time score.

Fax started the second half much as they had started the first and Graham Holdroyd kicked a good 40-20 , but Halifax were unable to score from the resulting scrum.

It took 12 minutes for the first score of the second half to be made after Joe Westerman made a good break and passed to Huby for a 40 meter run in, but once again the conversion was missed and the score now stood at 24-0.

A few plays later and a try saving tackle was made by the Cas defence in their own in goal area.

With 65 minutes now on the clock Marcus George scored for Halifax to bring the score to 24-4 after the conversion was missed. A few minutes later and Cas were forced to make another goal line drop-out and soon after Fax were held up over the line. With 69 minutes now on the clock , Lee Greenwood went over for another Fax score to bring the score to 24-8. Less than a minute later and arguably the best try of the game was scored by former Cas player Damian Gibson after a flowing move down Fax’s left hand side. This time the conversion attempt by Holdroyd was successful and the score now was 24-14 with 10 minutes left to play.

All thoughts of a possible Fax comeback were put to bed went Hendo made a break, McGoldrick put the kick up , which wasn’t handled at all by the Fax defence , with the ball falling into the hands of Mike Wainwright who claimed the last try of the game for Cas. Chris Charles capped another afternoon of hard work by converting the try to make the final score Halifax 14–Castleford 30.

Castleford 56 Dewsbury 8

Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger

fter pushing Whitehaven close in their last game, most would have expected Dewsbury to put up more of a fight then they did.
In the end Cas ran in 11 tries to post an emphatic victory with the final score Cas 56 – Dewsbury 8
This result along with Leigh beating Whiteahaven at the Recre, moved Castleford back in to second position in the league behind Widnes.

The game got under way in front of 4793 spectators enjoying the glorious sunshine and warm temperatures. It only took 4 minutes of play before Danny Brough put a clever grubber kick in , which was pounced on by the ever improving Ryan McGoldrick. This was duly converted by Kirk Dixon to take the score to 6 – 0.

A brief spell of pressure on the Cas line ended with Cas having to drop out on 10 minutes , but this pressure was short lived when after 12 minutes Kirk Dixon fed Mike Wainwright who went in to score in the corner, prompting many fans to comment on the fact that he can pass the ball when he needs to. The conversion this time was attempted by Danny Brough , who was however unsuccessful.

Only 3 minutes further into the game and Danny Brough intercepted on his own 30 metre line and went the full 70 metres to notch up the next score having been chased all the way. Kirk Dixon was given the kick this time and this was also unsuccessful, bring the score at this point to 14 – 0.

Another 3 minutes later and a good kick to the corner from Joe Westerman lead to a Dewsbury drop out. A short while later and Castleford once again attacked down their right hand side , this time McGoldrick fed Kirk Dixon who went over for the four points , Danny Brough stepped up for the conversion and once again missed , bringing the score to 18 – 0.

A 40-20 from Danny Brough 2 minutes later saw further pressure on the Dewsbury line and another Danny Brough grubber was knocked on by Ryan McGoldrick. A few minutes later and Cas were on the score sheet again , this time a neat ball from Danny Brough feeding Kirk Dixon for his second of the afternoon. Brough once again missed the conversion and the scoreline now showed 22 – 0.

More pressure on the Dewsbury line led to a drop out after 30 minutes and with 2 minutes Cas were at it again. This time the ball was offloaded from an impossible position by Dwayne Barker to Tommy Saxton who carried on before feeding Mike Wainwright for his second of the afternoon. This time Joe Westerman stepped up to take the conversion and the successful kick brought the score up to 28 – 0. This was the score when the half time hooter went.

2 minutes into the second half and a good move down the Cas left hand side saw the ball fed out wide by Brough to Shenton and eventually onto Stuart Donlan , who was stopped in his tracks by a high shot from Austin Buchanan.

45 minutes on the clock and Ryan McGoldrick score a solo effort for his second of the afternoon which was in turn converted by Danny Brough to bring the score to 34 – 0.

Once again it only took 2 minutes before Cas were on the scoresheet again , this time McGoldrick fed the ball to Tommy Saxton for a well deserved try. Brough once again missed the conversion and the score stood at 38 – 0.

A short while later and an error by Dewsbury leaves the ball on the floor , which was quickly pounced upon by Mark Leafa whose quick ball to Dwayne Barker set-up the next try , Barker scoring to bring the score to 42 – 0 which was soon increased to 44 – 0 by Joe Westerman.

From the resulting kick off , Andy Henderson was penalised and another penalty against us was soon given on our line. From this Danny Maun scored Dewsbury’s first try with 55 minutes on the clock. Former Cas player Francis Maloney couldn’t convert and the score was now 44 – 4 and the elusive nilling has still to be found.

Dewsbury’s second try came on 63 minutes from Austin Buchanan and once again Maloney failed to convert, this time hitting the post and the scoreline now read 44 – 8.

10 minutes of the game left on the clock saw another solo effort from Ryan McGoldrick to complete his hattrick and this time the conversion was made by Kirk Dixon. This was shortly followed on 72 minutes when McGoldrick fed Brough, who in turn fed Michael Knowles to score from 25 metres and leave an easy kick , which Dixon duly converted.

A dropout was forced on 75 minutes following a kick from McGoldrick and the last play of the game saw Dewsbury held-up over the line to leave the game with a final score of 56 – 8.

Terry Matterson had asked for the team to raise their intensity and it looks like that definitely happened. Brough and McGoldrick looked to be playing more as a partnership instead of 2 individuals like they have in previous matches.
A great effort from 1 – 17 on a very warm afternoon and it was interesting to note in the Tiger Bar after the game that Terry Mattersons Man of the Match went to Chris Charles, another player who does a lot of work without recognition.

Sheffield 15 Castleford 27

Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger

With Halifax beating Widnes the night before, the Tigers must have seen this game as a chance to close the gap and rack up the points. However, following on from their first victory the week before, the Eagles had other ideas. The rain had been falling in Sheffield all day long and credit must go to the 1333 that turned out to watch the game.

The scoring was opened after 3 minutes when a poor pass from Ryan McGoldrick ended up on the hands of Mike Wainwright, via Kirk Dixon , Wainwright going over in the right hand corner. Dixon then stepped up to take the conversion, but was unsuccessful.

10 minutes on the clock and Cas had to drop out following an in goal clearance by Wainwright. 2 minutes further on and Greg Hurst levelled the scores for the Eagles scoring in the right hand corner, followed by a successful Jonny Woodcock conversion to take them into a 6 – 4 lead. The game then turned into a bit of an arm wrestle with some poor kicking from McGoldrick. After 25 minutes it looked like Henderson had gone over to score but ened up just short , this was followed a few minutes later when Westerman looked to have scored from a McGoldrick kick , however the ball was not grounded and a drop out was awarded.

Just short of halftime and a neat grubber from former Cas player Dominic Brambani forced a goal line drop out again, which Huby belted a full 65 mtrs.

A couple of minutes into the second half and Cas were once again pressuring the Eagle lines and 2 dropouts were forced in quick succession. 5 minutes later another dropout was given following Lindsey being tackled in goal from a McGoldrick kick. The ball was then sent from one side of the field to the other with some quick passing and eventually Kirk Dixon went over for the try to bring the score to 6 – 8 , the conversion was once again unsuccessful.

Sheffield soon levelled the scores at 8 – 8 with a Woodcock penalty , following a high shot. With 54 minutes on the clock a high kick from McGoldrick caused more problems for Sheffield as they knocked on, however Cas let then off the hook when Tommy Saxton offloaded the ball straight into the hands of a Sheffield player on the 1st tackle. 2 minutes later and Sheffield then broke down their left hand side and luckily for Cas the player slipped and was tackled. 60 minutes now played and time for captain Henderson to step up , a great dummy saw a huge gap open up for Henderson who crossed the line to take the score to 8 – 12. Kicking duties were this time handed to Westerman who extended the lead to 8 – 14.

Woodcock brought the Eagles back to within 4 points with a successful penalty following some indiscipline from the Cas players having a go at the referee. They then drew level on 65 minutes when James Ford easily picked up a McGoldrick chip over and went 60 plus metres down the Eagles left side to score, fortunately for the Cas fans , Woodcock couldn’t convert and the scores were level again at 14 – 14.

Brambani attempted a drop goal on 70 minutes but wasn’t accurate. However within a minute, Saxton scored a one pointer for Cas down at the other end to set up a nail biting last 7 minutes.

Sheffield proceeded to restart the game , only for the kick not to go the required distance. Cas then started to put pressure on the Eagles and Huby went over form short range to put the score to 14 – 19 , with Westerman adding the 2 to open the lead to 7 points 14 – 21. 2 minutes further and Huby was once again the benefactor as Henderson broke the line and fed McGoldrick, who in turn fed Huby to score , again Westerman added the extras and the score was now 14 – 27 and Sheffield looked like getting nothing from the game. However Brendan Lindsay’s quick thinking in the last minute saw him add a drop goal to bring them back to 12 points behind and earn them the much deserved extra point, leaving the final score Sheffield 15 – Castleford 27.

Its always easy to say that the weather is a great leveller, but this is the the 3rd time this year we have struggled in poor conditions (Fev and Leigh away). All credit must go out to the Sheffield team who played well above their league position and in some people’s eyes were the better team on the night.

Next week sees the NL1 campaign take a break , but Cas are in action away at Widnes in the semi-final of the Northern Rail Cup, whilst the other semi sees Whitehaven take on Hailfax.

And finally, thank god Graham is back from his holidays as he will now resume his post of match report writer.

Castleford 44 Whitehaven 12

Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger

After the disappointment of the defeat at Widnes the Tigers bounced back to winning ways with an emphatic 44-12 victory at The Jungle.

The Tigers gave a stunning 2nd half display keeping 3rd place Haven scoreless whilst racking up 28 points themselves with youngster Joe Westerman helping himself to 12 of the points with 2 tries and a couple of goals.

Terry Matterson made a couple of changes from the Vikings match with Stuart Donlan switching to full back in place of the injured Tommy Saxton, Michael Shenton switched to the wing with Ryan Clayton and Dwayne Barker alternating in the Centre. Richard Owen was recalled to the bench where he was joined by Joe Westerman, Liam Higgins and the in-form Ryan Boyle.

The Tigers got away to a flying start and put pressure on the visitors’ line and when Ryan McGoldrick sent the rampaging Mark Leafa through a gap he had the presence of mind to make the ball available for Andy Henderson who in turn fed Mike Wainwright. The position was set and after a quick play the ball moved left to Barker who crashed over for the opening score. Danny Brough added the extras and with 4 minutes on the clock Cas were 6 points up.



6 became 12 when Brough’s cross field kick was caught at pace brilliantly by Leafa for a try which Brough again converted.

Whitehaven then started to claw their way back into the game and after former Tiger Richard Fletcher had been tackled short the ball was quickly transferred to another ex Tiger Aaron Smith whose pass found John Duffy. A show of the ball from the scrum half and he glided between Craig Huby and Stuart Donlan to score behind the posts. Carl Rudd goaled and the deficit was halved.


Minutes later and Haven were on level terms as Duffy sent centre David Seeds through a gap. Seeds pass to winger Craig Calvert looked suspiciously forward though the winger didn’t seem to mind as he took the ball in full flight to kick ahead and beat Wainwright to the ball for a score in the corner. A magnificent conversion from the touchline by Rudd followed and the Tiger were clearly under pressure as Brough’s kick off sailed out on the full.

Twenty minutes of resolute defence with neither side creating any clear cut opportunities before Cas got on the score board again. A quick play the ball gave Brough an opportunity to dart from dummy half and when he looked as though his progress had been halted a superb one handed offload found Joe Westerman who fired out a long cut out pass to the unmarked Shenton who did the rest. No conversion but the Cas were back in front at the break.

The 2nd half was only 3 minute old when McGoldrick’s inside ball found Chris Charles who in turn fed Awen Guttenbiel. With Boyle charging on his left Guttenbiel timed his pass to perfection and the young prop stretched over for a well deserved score. Brough goaled and the lead was now 10 points at 22-12.

Next to score was centre Kirk Dixon who outpaced the cover from 60 metres out although the pass from Charles had a hint of a forward pass. Westerman couldn’t add the extras from the touchline but made amends when he caught a swirling McGoldrick bomb to spin past full back Broadbent for a try under the posts.

The Tigers extended the lead on the hour mark when Westerman added a penalty goal after a high tackle on Charles. The decision was a surprise to most in the ground as when the scores were tight in the first half they had turned down a number of opportunities to take the 2.

Slick handling brought the penultimate try as Guttenbiel, Henderson, Westerman and Donlan all combined before Shenton sent Owen in at the corner. Westerman was unlucky with the conversion attempt hitting the crossbar but the youngster rounded things off with the final try accepting a pass from McGoldrick. Dixon duly converted to make the final score Cas 44 Whitehaven 12.

Doncaster provide the next opponents for Cas at The Jungle and after comfortable victories earlier in the campaign the Tigers faithful will be no doubt looking for a comprehensive victory
Teams
Tigers
Stuart Donlan ,Michael Shenton, Ryan Clayton, Kirk Dixon, Michael Wainwright, Ryan McGoldrick, Danny Brough, Mark Leafa, Andrew Henderson, Craig Huby, Awen Guttenbiel, , Chris Charles, Dwayne Barker

Subs: Richard Owen, Joe Westerman , Ryan Boyle ,Liam Higgins,

Whitehaven
Gary Broadbent, Craig Calvert, Rob Jackson, Danny Eilbeck, David Seeds, Leroy Joe, John Duffy, Marc Jackson, Aaron Smith, Steve Trindall, Spencer Miller, Richard Fletcher, Carl Rudd
Subs: Carl Sice, Matty Dale, Scott Teare, Graeme Mattinson

Referee:- J Leahy

Attendance:- 4902