Castleford beat Giants for first Super League win

Betfred Super League

Castleford Tigers (16) 34

Tries: Hood, McIntosh, Lawler, Weaver 2, Golding Goals: Weaver 5

Huddersfield Giants (4) 8

Ashton Golding scored on his Castleford debut against former club Huddersfield Giants to complete Tigers’ first Super League win of the season.

Tries from Liam Hood, Darnell McIntosh and George Lawler had Tigers cruising inside the opening 30 minutes, but Jacob Gagai pulled one back just before the break to make it 16-4.

Tom Weaver then grabbed two crucial second-half tries, either side of George Flanagan’s four-pointer, to put Tigers on the way to sealing a first league win under head coach Ryan Carr.

The early season form and misfortune of the West Yorkshire rivals had mirrored one another before their meeting at the OneBore Stadium. Both had been winless, pointless and hit by injuries.

Captain Alex Mellor became the latest Tiger to be sidelined after he broke his leg in last week’s defeat at Toulouse, while Giants were without a host of injured regulars themselves, including Liam Sutcliff, Joe Greenwood and Harry Rushton because of lengthy lay-offs.

France international Tanguy Zenon started for injury-hit Huddersfield just two days after joining the club, while there were Tigers debuts for Wigan loanee George Hirst and former Giants pair Jack Ashworth and Golding.

Hood gave the hosts the ideal start, darting from dummy-half to grab his second try of the season after Joe Stimson was brought down close to the line.

Castleford got a deserved second through McIntosh, who scrambled through a frazzled Giants defence that had been pinned back on their line after Taane Milne gave away a reckless penalty for his high hit on Krystian Mapapalangi.

Milne was in the sin-bin when Lawler crashed over under the posts for Castleford’s third try in the 26th minute, but after that it was Huddersfield who finished the half stronger, with Zenon denied by a try-saving tackle from Mikaele Ravalawa before Gagai eventually responded with a 38th-minute score.

Huddersfield continued to threaten but were wasteful in search of a way back into the game before Weaver got on the end of a brilliantly weighted grubber kick from Daejarn Asi to edge Castleford 18 points ahead.

Castleford Tigers head coach Ryan Carr told BBC Radio Leeds:

“That’s what we play for, we play to win and play for this feeling right now.

“I’m really happy for my team and really happy for everyone involved in our club because a lot of work has gone into getting to this point. And there will continue to be a lot more work.

“But to be able to see them with a smile on their faces, with all the hard work they have done since day one of pre-season, is enjoyable.

Huddersfield Giants head coach Luke Robinson told BBC Radio Leeds:

“I thought we were rubbish, as plain and simple as that.

“We just robbed ourselves of energy with the amont of dropped balls that we had in that first half. The lads tried hard, but they were exhausted.

“I think they completed 100% [of their sets] in the second half, and we completed around 60-odd. If you just give the opposition the ball over and over again, you are going to get the same result.

“Eventually it just robs you of energy and you are basically playing on fumes.

Castleford Tigers: Cini, Ravalawa, Mapapalangi, McIntosh, Qaraqare, Asi, Weaver, Atoni, Hood, Westerman, Lane, Hirst, Stimson.

Replacements: Lawler, Ashworth, Hall, Golding.

Huddersfield Giants: Patolo, Woolford, Rogers, O’Donnell, Billington, Powell, Russell, Lolohea, Halsall, Milne, Gagai, Zenon, Flanagan.

Replacements: Burgess, King, Rush, English.