Castleford 16 Halifax 36
Cas lose to Halifax 16:36 - Here are a
couple of match reports stolen shamelessly from a couple of
other Rugby Sites.
Report 1 - Halifax staged an impressive
second-half revival to consolidate third place in Super
League and put paid to any lingering play-off hopes for the
resurgent Tigers in a rousing battle at Wheldon Road.
The Blue Sox trailed 16-10 at half-time
after being outplayed for long periods but gradually clawed
their way back into the game and took control with four tries
in a 20-minute spell.
Powerful second-half performances from
forwards Gary Mercer and Des Clark wore down brave Castleford
and two flashes of inspiration from centre Daio Powell turned
the game their way.
First he burst out of Jon Wells' tackle
to race 40 metres and set up the position from which David
Bouveng scored and then sent winger Fereti Tuilagi over for a
51st-minute try that put the visitors in front for the first
time.
It was a result that hardly looked
possible in the first-half when Castleford, with confidence
sky high from superb wins over Warrington and Leeds, produced
some high-class rugby that left their growing army of fans
wondering might have been but for a wretched spell in
mid-season in which they won just two out of eight matches.
Castleford started as they left off
against Leeds, with impressive prop Richard McKell powering
his way through a three-man tackle to cross for a
second-minute try.
The Blue Sox were frequently on the back
foot in the first-half but twice demonstrated clinical
finishing to hit back and level the scores.
From their first attack, influential
scrum-half Gavin Clinch worked an opening for stand-off Chris
Chester to slice through and then combined with his half-back
partner to get forward Des Clark over.
However, Castleford remained in charge
when winger Jason Flowers raced onto a superb kick to the
corner from Brad Davis to touch down and then offloaded from
a two-man tackle close to the line for full-back Richard Gay
to score.
Tries early in the second-half from
Bouvenhe and Tuilagi put a
new complexion on the game and loose forward Martin Moana
emphasised Halifax's growing confidence when he re-gathered
his own kick to touch down and the game finished on a
one-sided note with Richard Marshall and Clinch adding
further tries in the final quarter.
Clinch
illustrated his value to the Halifax side when he took over
the goalkicking from Martin Pearson, who missed with all but
one of his five attempts, and kicked three from three.
Report 2 - Halifax staged an
impresssive second half revival to consolidate third place
and end any lingering hopes the Tigers had of claiming a
play-off place.
The Blue Sox trailed 16-10 at the break
but gradually clawed their way back into the game and took
control with four tries in a 20-minute spell.
Halifax centre Daio Powell changed the
game with two moments of inspiration. His 40-metre burst led
to David Bouveng scoring and he then set winger Fereti
Tuilagi up for try on 51 minutes.
Blue Sox coach John Pendlebury's said:
"We have come a long way in 14 rounds and we've set
ourselves high standards. "I was very disappointed with
the way we played the game in the first half.
"In these temperatures, it is
important to control the football but we had just 35% ball
control. However, we rolled up our sleeves and rectified it
in the second half. Defensively, my players deserve a big pat
on the back."
Tigers coach Stuart Raper added: "I
am going to talk about it behind closed doors with the
players in the week. There were some things I was very
disappointed about. We were all over them in the first half
but we threw the game away. We just couldn't get out of our
own half and never attacked their line in the second
half"
biggest at Wheldon Road for a Super
League match - might disagree, however, after seeing the club
maintain their recent home stranglehold in derby matches
against their great rivals. Leeds have not won at Castleford
in the Super League era, a record they rarely seemed likely
to end yesterday against injury-hit opponents whose greater
spirit and desire for victory brought the reward it deserved.
With New Zealander Tony Kemp sidelined by a knee injury, the
Rhinos lacked direction and penetration in attack to leave
coach Graham Murray lamenting the ineffectiveness of his
half-back pairing. Neither scrum-half Graham Holroyd or
Iestyn Harris, starting a match at stand-off for the first
time this year, appear comfortable in the roles, a situation
in stark contrast to that of the Tigers whose victory was
built around inspired displays from Brad Davis and youngster
Danny Orr.
Orr, also making his seasonal bow in the
No 6 role, proved a constant menace in an unusual line-up
fielded through necessity rather than choice by Raper who had
just 16 fit players a few hours before kick-off. Injuries and
a viral infection denied Castleford the services of
Barrie-Jon Mather, David Chapman, Danny Ellison and Richard
Gay in the build-up and only veteran scrum-half Mike Ford's
decision to make himself available despite nagging injuries
saved Raper from dipping into the club's Academy side for a
17th man.
Raper could not have asked more from the
players who took to the field, especially from New Zealander
Michael Smith, a man mountain of a forward whose brute
strength and sheer persistence set an example all his
team-mates were eager to follow. Like Godzilla rampaging
through the streets of New York, Smith tore asunder all
before him in a destructive performance crowned by the
winning try six minutes from the final hooter, an unstoppable
run from Ford's short pass which had defenders climbing over
themselves to get out of the way. Smith was ably assisted in
the forward battle by all his pack colleagues, not least prop
Dean Sampson who at last appears to have rid his game of the
inconsistency that has dogged him for much of his career.
Leeds twice held the lead in an
encounter which they will be keen to forget, fortune
favouring the Rhinos to allow Richie Blackmore to go over to
notch the opening try after Harris and Holroyd had hacked the
ball through the Castleford defence, and Harris edging them
into a 16-14 advantage with a penalty just after the restart.
But it was destined to be Castleford's day, as four tries to
two is testimony.
Jason Flowers scored the first, breaking
through on an angled run from Orr's tight pass for Francis
Maloney, who had earlier kicked a penalty, to add the goal.
Winger Jon Wells then showed a neat finishing touch by
squeezing in on the left for Maloney to goal before Leeds
tied the scores through Francis Cummins, who burst on to Andy
Hay's clever pass from a tackle to step adroitly around
Flowers en route to the posts. Harris again landed the goal.
The Leeds captain's fourth successful kick on 42 minutes was
their last score as Castleford seized control. Orr restored a
lead they were never to relinquish by cutting in from Richard
Russell's pass and though Critchley and Ford went close to
snatching the limelight with match-winning scores, that feat
quite rightly was achieved by Smith.
The win keeps alive Castleford's faint
hopes of a top-five finish and should set alarm bells ringing
at Headingley for a Leeds team which is fading into a shadow
of the side that set the early pace in Super League.
Castleford Tigers: Flowers; Wells,
Maloney, Vowles, Critchley; Orr, Davis; Sampson, Harland,
McKell, Sykes, M Smith, Schick. Substitutions: Russell for M
Smith 30, Ford for Russell 53, M Smith for McKell 54, P Smith
for Sykes 58, McKell for Schick 71, Tallec for Harland 75
Leeds Rhinos: St Hilaire; Sterling,
Blackmore, Cummins, Rivett; Harris, Holroyd; Masella,
Sheridan, Fleary, Farrell, Hay, Glanville. Substitutions:
Mathiou for Fleary 26, Powell for Sterling 48, McDermott for
Masella 49, Morley for Glanville 53, Fleary for Farrell 68,
Masella for McDermott 72.
Referee: S Cummings (Widnes).
Round 7 - Castleford Tigers v
Bradford Bulls
Cas Team : Flowers, Gay,
Critchley, Mather, Wells, Maloney, Davies, Harland, Hall,
Sykes, Tallec, Michael Smith, Vowles
Subs :McKell, Ford, Ellison,
Paul Smith
I'm watching the game "live and
exclusive" on SKY tonight!!!! I would have liked to
attend but made a decision to stop at home instead.
We've just won the toss!!!!!
Looks to be a decent crowd there again.
We're playing in our white, blue and
purple kit tonight.
Cas receive the ball playing to the
railway end. Cas immediately go on the attack but come away
with nothing.
McNamara gets penalised for a high
tackle after 3 minutes.
Brad Davies puts in a long kick and
Spruce has to kill the ball in the tryzone after preasure
from Gay. Flowers knocks on from the drop out.
9 minutes - Bradford having a good spell
of attacking. After a kick through Flowers makes another bad
mistake in not gathering an easy ball in front of the sticks.
Shawn Edwards is on hand to collect the ball and score an
easy try. The conversion is good for a score of Cas 0
Bradford 6
Vaikona is playing well for the Bulls
making a couple of good breaks.
13 minutes gone and Michael Smith takes
a knock to his leg - he appears to be in a great deal of
pain. He has to be carried off to the sideline. McKell comes
on in his place.
Wells is playing well so far tonight.
The Tigers forwards are making plenty of ground when they
have the ball.
Abi Ekoku knocks on from a high kick so
Cas go on the attack and put a kick in to Ekoku again!!! He
knocks it dead this time for a drop out.
Some good moves by Cas come to nothing
after a knock on.
Michael Smith has a gash on his knee and
is in the blood bin.
19 minutes gone and Bradford find a way
over the try line again. The Tigers defence never recovered
after an initial break and Robbie Paul eventually scrambled
over the line. McNamara again got the conversion for a 12:0
lead to the Bulls.
22 minutes gone and Lee Harland limps
off the field of play.
Dwyer nearly sells Cas a big dummy and 2
plays later Vaikona scores in the corner. The kick is missed
so after 25 minutes the score is Tiger 0 Bulls 16 - Things
don't look good for Cas tonight.
The Tigers immediately knock on from the
kickoff and Robbie Paul goes over the try line again. The ref
calls for a video replay and another try is given. The kick
hits the post so at least it's only 20:0 !!!
Cas are all at sea and Bradford are
making lots of ground.
31 minutes gone and Edwards scores under
the sticks after a fast and decisive attack by the Bulls. The
try is converted for a score of 26:0
Cas' performance can only be described
as "shoddy"
35 minutes gone and Danny Peacock scores
another Try!!!!!
WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH FROM CAS. I'M
GLAD I DIDN'T WASTE 8 POUNDS TO WATCH THEM!!!!!!!!!!
The half time score is 30:0 and the
Tigers get booed off the field
I really can't be bothered to watch the
second half as we're playing so poorly. I'll stick the final
score on the website hopefully on Sunday evening.
I'm now off out to the pub, it's got to
be better than this!!!!!!
Round 5 - Castleford Tigers v
Hull Sharks
Match report/summary by Wayne Edginton (who originally
made this entry in the guestbook)
I went down the lane with some
trepidation as to how the lads would shape up today after the
news about BJ,the speculation about Stuart Raper, and the
dismal performance against Halifax.
A large Hull crowd were assembled and in
full voice when I arrived 30 mins before kick-off.
We were treated to the new mascot
'Top-Cat' on a mini motorbike before the game got under way.
Gay was first over from an interception
and started as he meaned to go on. Definately the best game
I've seen him play. Davis converted.
On 15 mins Leathem replied but the
conversion failed. Jason Flowers made a great break and
looked to be going over when he was bounced into the post.
Davis goaled the penalty that followed.
On 30 mins McKell went over but Davis
missed the conversion, perhaps still hurting from a terrific
knock he had earlier.
4 minutes later Critchley scored after a
brilliant run from Vowles who impressed throughout the game
in attack and defence and won the man of the match award.
Gay went over again but Davis also
missed again. 22-4 at half time.
Gay appeared to score again 7 minutes
into the second half but it was disallowed - my line of sight
was obscured at the time, so I don't know the reason.
Mike Ford, subbing for Davis made a drop
goal.
Hunte failed to play the ball but Hall
missed the resulting penalty.
Cas lost the plot for most of the
remaining time and allowed tries from Stevenson and two from
Radford. Even so Hull didnt look like they were going to
snatch victory.
Ellison settled it 5 minutes from time,
Critchley missing the conversion, but his boot flew off and
almost made it over the post. Final score 31-18, Attendance
7,722