Castleford Tigers 30 Salford Reds 12Castleford's five-try win gave them their first Super League double of the season. Salford, unbeaten in their previous three games, never looked like continuing their recent good run. The Tigers had a decisive edge thanks to half-backs Danny Orr and Brad Davis who both scored two tries and kicked five goals between them. Orr put Castleford ahead with penalty goals after three and nine minutes, while Salford went close when winger Darren Rogers had a touchdown disallowed at the corner. The Reds were temporarily reduced to 10 men in the 24th minute when prop Cliff Eccles was sinbinned for holding down in a tackle. Five minutes later Castleford made it 10-0 with a splendid 75-yard solo try from Orr which Davis converted. The Tigers increased their lead in the 43rd minute when Orr's high kick was dropped by Rogers and Kiwi forward Michael Smith capitalised to get a touchdown. A flare-up in the 52nd minute led to Salford's David Hulme and Castleford's Lee Harland being sin-binned. Eight minutes later substitute Mike Ford put Orr in for his second try. Salford's first score came 13 minutes from time when scrum-half Phil Waring followed up his own kick to go over under the posts. But Castleford struck again within four minutes with Davis' first try after a great move involving John Wells and Barrie-Jon Mather. Hulme collected Salford's second try and Steve Blakeley kicked his second goal before the Tigers rounded things off with Davis' second touchdown in the final minute.
St Helens 32 Castleford Tigers 32A dramatic injury-time penalty from Castleford scrum-half Brad Davis gave the Tigers a deserved point in a thrilling encounter at Knowsley Road. Saints looked to be heading for victory as they led 32-24 with just five minutes remaining. But substitute Gael Tallec pulled a try back for the visitors which Davis converted to reduce the deficit to just two points and set up a thrilling finale. Then in the final minute Saints were penalised for interference at the play the ball in front of their own posts and Davis kept his cool to land the penalty. But Saints' players were furious after Davis appeared to take a quick tap before deciding to go for goal and Karle Hammond was sin-binned for protesting to the referee. Fourth-placed Saints made a flying start and led 12-0 after just nine minutes through a try by Brett Goldspink and three goals from Sean Long. Long added a further penalty midway through the half and Saints looked to be coasting at 14-0. But Cas hit back and prop forward Dean Sampson powered his way over for a hat-trick of tries in a sensational 11-minute spell to bring them back into the game. Danny Orr could land just one conversion to tie the scores at 14-14 at half-time. The Tigers made a dream start to the second period when Francis Maloney raced 60 yards for a fine solo try which Orr converted to give Cas the lead for the first time at 20-14. But that advantage lasted just four minutes as Tommy Martyn crossed for Saints and Long converted to level it again at 20-20. Castleford edged their noses in front again when Adrian Vowles crossed, but Saints hit back when Ian Pickavance went over for a try and the scores were level again at 24-24. Saints then looked to have taken a crucial advantage as Martyn grabbed his second try and Paul Newlove became the first player in Super League to reach 50 tries when he scored nine minutes from time. But Cas had other ideas and they levelled proceedings in an exciting finale. Bradford made the best possible start, racing into a 10-0 lead inside eight minutes, but the game quickly settled into a battle of attrition. McNamara opened his side's account with a couple of early penalties and they scored a well-executed try when Lowes slipped Adrian Vowles' tackle on an angled run wide out and sent the supporting Stuart Spruce over. But the Bulls lacked a spark, with Robbie Paul once more struggling to find his form, and their most effective players were Spruce and Western Suburbs prop Harvey Howard. The former Widnes and Leeds forward, who had flown in from Australia just 24 hours earlier, was introduced for his debut as a 22nd-minute substitute and immediately injected some penetration into a stereotyped attack. Castleford, who missed the creative flair of injured half-back Brad Davis, recovered well from an awful start and hit back with a 24th-minute try from stand-off Danny Orr. Spruce and Scales collided trying to collect a 'bomb' from Mike Ford, and Orr was left with the simple task of touching down for a soft try, to which he added the goal to an earlier penalty to make it 10-8. A fourth goal from McNamara on the stroke of half-time - to bring up his 600th point for the club - edged the Bulls further ahead, and the Tigers had to defend furiously at times in the second half. Right-winger Tevita Vaikona went close after a thrilling run, and Castleford defender Lee Harland rescued his side with a timely interception as the Bulls stepped up the tempo with little sign of a breakthrough until Scales came to the rescue. Castleford 50 Warrington Wolves 24Castleford's storming nine-try display earned them their first home Super League win over Warrington and sent the Wolves sliding to their fifth straight defeat. Winger Jon Wells grabbed two first half tries and man of the match Danny Orr kicked seven goals as the Tigers repeated last month's victory over the same opposition in Cardiff. Warrington's hopes of a seventh win on their last eight visits to Wheldon Road ended when Australian centre Mike Eager was sent off in the 54th minute for a high tackle on Jason Critchley when the Wolves trailed only 26-20. The Tigers, who had lost 13 of the previous 15 games between the sides, kicked their Warrington jinx firmly into touch after taking charge with five first half touch downs. The Wolves made a cracking start with a second minute try from Danny Farrar which Lee Briers goaled but the Tigers quickly bounced back with three tries in nine minutes. Brad Davis and Barrie-Jon Mather put Danny Allison in at the corner, skipper Adrian Vowles powered his way over and scrum half Davis raced 50 yards to score after Warrington's Mike Wainwright lost the ball in a tackle by Dean Sampson. Stand-off Orr kicked two goals to put Castleford 16-6 up but the Wolves got themselves back in the game when Steve McCurrie and Briers linked to send Lee Penny over after 21 minutes. Castleford got their fourth try three minutes later when Richard Russell's bustling run led to Wells going over. Orr kicked a penalty goal before Davis sent Wells in for his second to make it 26-10 at half time. Warrington reduced the arrears to six points when former Castleford pair Brendon Tuuta and Jason Roach scored in a three minute spell early in the second half and Briers landed his second goal but the Wolves' hopes disappeared with Eager's dismissal. Castleford wrapped things up with four more tries. Andrew Schick, Sampson, Francis Maloney and Michael Smith all went over to complete the rout. Warrington's only further reply came from Roach's second touchdown. Hull 18 Castleford 6A piece of inspirational magic by Hull full-back Steve Prescott put them on the path to victory over rivals Castleford. Trailing 6-0 to a Danny Orr try and penalty Hull desperately needed a piece of inspiration. On 20 minutes they got it when Prescott picked up a kick five metres from his own line and split the Castleford defence apart on a 90-metre run to score and added the conversion. He then landed two penalties to give Hull a vital lead at the break. They never trailed again. On 53 minutes Gary Lester slipped through a gap to extend their advantage with a try and four minutes from time substitute Rob Nolan ended Castleford's hopes of a dramatic win, finishing off a slick cross-field move with a try in the corner. Despite the victory, Hull coach Peter Walsh wasn't pleased with the possession his players had lost. He said: "Players have got to be more responsible and we cannot continue making the basic mistakes which we are." He was not the only one upset by handling errors as Castleford coach Stuart Raper said: "We just self-destructed. We gave so much possession away in the second half that we never stood a chance of turning this game around. "I thought the second half was terrible as a spectacle. |
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