Widnes 18 Castleford 24
Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger
We are top of the
league, I say we are top of the league’ rang around the Halton Stadium as
Castleford Tigers fans celebrated a magnificent victory over the Widnes Vikings
by 24 points to 18.
Many thought, prior to the game, that Widnes were the dominant side of NL1,
especially after 2 wins over the Tigers earlier in the season. What had gone
before counted for nothing as the Tigers gave their best performance of the
season so far to secure the points and take top spot from the Vikings with only
2 games of the regular season left.
Cas were once again with out Ryan McGoldrick and Craig Huby and they were joined
on the sidelines by Dwayne Barker but Awen Guttenbiel and Peter Lupton were back
from injury to take their places in the Tigers 17. Mark Leafa came in at prop
for Tere Glassie who dropped back to the bench. For Widnes it was a familiar
looking side with main threats Mark Smith, Denis Moran, Bob Beswick, Joel Penny
and goal kicker Mick Nanyn all in the line-up.
The opening minutes were tense and hard fought with both sets of forwards trying
to dominate each other and set up the platform and space for the backs to
exploit.
With only 4 minutes on the clock Widnes got the 1st score. Penny’s kick
downfield was fielded by Stuart Donlan who fed Danny Williams. Williams was
tackled by Penny and with attention from Moran the ball came free with more than
a suspicion of a 2 on 1 steal. The Vikings capitalised and the ball was moved to
the left via Penny, Beswick and Scott Grix to Nanyn and the big centre went over
in the corner for a try confirmed by the video ref. Nanyn missed the conversion
from the touch line but Widnes were 4 points up.
With both sides giving everything chances were at a premium, a Danny Brough kick
was fielded by Damien Blanch at one end and at the other Donlan reacted well to
make a Smith kick dead. An incident involving Cas prop Liam Higgins and Widnes
front row Oliver Wilkes was put on report and then Nanyn was held up just short
on a last tackle play.
As the first quarter ended Cas were just starting to get a stranglehold of the
game with Brough and Anthony Thackeray becoming more influential and both were
involved in the Tigers 1st score. Thackeray’s neat inside pass sent Ryan Clayton
through a hole in the Vikings defence and the back row man charged 30 metres. A
quick play the ball and Brough put in a perfectly weighted kick to the corner
where Williams pounced for the score which referee Ashley Klein again referred
to the video ref who confirmed the try. Brough edged the Tigers in front with a
brilliant touchline conversion.
Brough was then off target with a penalty attempt from inside his own half, the
only miss from either kicker, after a high tackle on Guttenbiel by Paul Noone.
His kick was back on target as they forced Widnes to drop out twice and in
between added a penalty goal after interference at a play the ball. The 2nd goal
line drop out came as Grix tried to clear his line and met a black and amber
juggernaut in the form of Ryan Boyle, Michael Shenton, Clayton and Chris Charles
who forced the full back over his own line.
From the next set of 6 the Tigers lead was extended as Thackeray fed Dixon on
the last tackle for the centre to give Mike Wainwright a lovely one handed pass.
The winger stepped inside Dean Gaskell and went over near the touch line. Brough
again converted magnificently and it was now 4 -14 after 36 minutes.
Widnes hit back almost immediately and with only seconds on the clock Moran was
tackled just short but quick thinking from the experienced Toa Kohe Love saw him
force his way over for a try which Nanyn once again added the extras to.
Cas had the 1st use of the ball after the restart and as Brough kicked down
field on the last tackle, Moran caught him late and was duly despatched to the
sin bin. Brough picked himself up to take the 2 points on offer with another
penalty goal.
Widnes fought back and after Donlan had knocked a Noone kick dead the Tigers
were caught offside and Nanyn took the opportunity to close the gap to 4 points
and in doing so broke Mick Burke’s goals in a season record.
Thackeray then fed Dixon who almost repeated his earlier offload to Wainwright
but the pass went forward and the chance was missed. Two minutes later and the
centre made amends forcing his way over from a lovely pass from Andy Henderson
after Thackeray had been held short. Another magnificent conversion followed to
stretch the Tigers lead further.
Brough added a penalty goal shortly after and took the margin to 2 scores. The
last 20 minutes saw Widnes throw caution to the wind and some terrific defence
from the Tigers saw the game reach a frantic finale. Blanch and Nanyn both went
close before Moran, Nanyn and Kohe Love combined to send sub Gavin Dodd in at
the corner that was converted by Nanyn.
The game ended to scenes of celebration from the Cas faithful gathered behind
the sticks as the Tigers players were quick to join in and share the moment with
their fans.
Both teams gave the Sky TV viewers an excellent spectacle and with the promise
of at least one more game between the ‘top 2’ in NL1 there is bound to be a
thrilling climax to the season.
Tigers
Stuart Donlan, Danny Williams, Michael Shenton, Kirk Dixon, Michael Wainwright,
Anthony Thackeray ,Danny Brough, Liam Higgins, Andrew Henderson, Mark Leafa,
Awen Guttenbiel, Chris Charles, Ryan Clayton
Subs: Joe Westerman, Ryan Boyle, Tere Glassie, Peter Lupton
Widnes
Scott Grix, Damien Blanch, Toa Kohe Love, Mick Nanyn, Dean Gaskell, Denis Moran,
Joel Penny, Mick Cassidy, Mark Smith, Oliver Wilkes, Lee Doran, Paul Noone, Bob
Beswick
Subs: Aaron Summers, Jordan James, Ian Webster, Gavin Dodd
Teams
Attendance:-
Referee:- A Klein
Castleford 62 Leigh 10
Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger
The Castleford
Tigers push for the title stepped up another gear with an emphatic 62 – 10 win
over Leigh Centurions at The Jungle, where stand off Anthony Thackeray took the
individual honours with a fabulous 4 try display.
This was far from a one man show as tremendous displays from Kirk Dixon, Liam
Higgins and skipper Andy Henderson whilst Danny Brough’s 8 goals brought up a
century of 2 pointers for the season.
Terry Matterson once again shuffled his pack as Awen Guttenbiel dropped back to
the bench Chris Charles was rested and into the starting 13 came Tere Glassie in
the 2nd row and Peter Lupton at loose forward. Joining Guttenbiel on the bench
were Joe Westerman, Ryan Boyle and Dwayne Barker.
Cas started in fine style with Dixon opening the scoring with only 4 minutes on
the clock. Lupton initially created the space before the in form Stuart Donlan
gave a well timed pass for the centre to score from 20 metres out. Brough was
off target with the conversion attempt from wide out but the scrum half’s
kicking from hand was bang on target as the Centurions were forced to concede an
early goal line drop out. From the repeat set Danny Williams, Thackeray and Mark
Leafa all went close but the Leigh line held firm.
Former Leeds Rhinos winger Leroy Rivett looked certain to score only to be
bundled into the corner flag by Michael Shenton and a host of amber shirted
defenders.
That sparked Castleford’s attack and 2 quick fire tries, both converted by
Brough, stretched the lead to 16 points. First a neat break from Thackeray found
Glassie’s angled run for the Cook Islander to charge under the posts the
provider then turned scorer as after Lupton had gone close, Brough went across
the line and created the space for the stand off to grab his first of the game.
As the first half entered the final 10 minutes Leigh enjoyed a bit of a purple
patch as they narrowed the gap to 6 points at the break as tries from centres
Dave Alstead, following up a kick from Aaron Heremaia and Danny Halliwell
capitalising on Donlan’s first mistake in weeks to score in the corner. Alstead
converted his own try but that was all the scoring they could muster.
In between the 2 Leigh tries Williams went close for Cas as he brilliantly
caught a high kick from Brough only to lose the ball trying to force his way
over in the corner.
The 2nd half started in similar vein to the 1st as within 4 minutes of the
restart Donlan was in for his 19th try of the season after good work from
Brough, Thackeray and Lupton. Brough’s conversion attempt was successful going
in off the upright.
Thackeray got his 2nd 10 minutes later supporting a great Henderson dummy half
run and then Henderson and Thackeray combined to send in Westerman for his 1st
of the afternoon. Brough converted both tries and the Tigers were now 34 – 10
up.
Tries now followed at regular intervals with a further 5 in the remaining 20
minutes.
Thackeray’s hat-trick try was next after Henderson broke with a dummy half run
from inside his own 40 metre area. Barker was on hand to carry the move on and
he in turn sent the stand off in from 30 metres out for a classy score. Brough’s
2 pointer brought up the 40 point mark, but he could only hit the post with his
next effort after a great off load from Mark Leafa sent Westerman in for his
2nd.
Williams was next over the whitewash after Brough ran across the line to find
Shenton with a long pass. The centre squeezed the ball out to Williams who just
had to take the pass and stroll in. Dixon this time added the extras.
Higgins and Lupton then combined to send Thackeray in for his 4th try and with 4
minutes still on the clock the Tigers still had time for another and what a
cracker it was. The outstanding Dixon got on the outside of Heremaia and broke
down the right hand side and with Michael Wainwright supporting on the inside he
timed his pass perfectly to send the winger racing to the posts. Brough added
goals 99 and 100 and the rout was complete.
The Tigers now face Rochdale Hornets knowing that a win will not only clinch the
League Leaders Shield but that coveted home play off tie against Widnes Vikings
where victory will fast track them to a Grand Final place at Headingley on
October 7th.
With all this in mind there should be an army of amber and black hitting
Spotland next Sunday all hoping for the first trophy of the season.
Teams
Tigers
Stuart Donlan, Danny Williams, Michael Shenton, Kirk Dixon, Michael Wainwright,
Anthony Thackeray ,Danny Brough, Liam Higgins, Andrew Henderson, Mark Leafa,
Tere Glassie , Ryan Clayton, Peter Lupton
Subs:
Joe Westerman ,Dwayne Barker, Awen Guttenbiel, Ryan Boyle,
Leigh
Chris Giles, Leroy Rivett, Dave Alstead, Danny Halliwell, Miles Greenwood, Chris
Hough, Aaron Heremaia, Matt Astley, Dave McConnell, Dana Wilson, Damien
Couturier, Mailangi Styles, James Taylor
Subs:
John Clogh, Adam Rudd, Darryl Kay, Seb Martins
Referee: Jamie Leahy
Attendance:- 5525
Rochdale 0 Castleford 106
Match Report taken from http://www.ctsc.org.uk written by NormyTiger