Archive July 3, 2025

Betfred Super League

Castleford (12) 12

Goals: Milnes (2) Tries: Lawler, Cini

Huddersfield (12) 30

Huddersfield Giants defeated Castleford Tigers to record their third straight Super League victory, led by George Flanagan, who scored 14 points and orchestrated yet another try.

The 20-year-old full-back helped Giants recover from last week’s hammering by Catalans Dragons, sparking a moment of real quality with Tui Lolohea’s opening try, converted scores from Sam Halsall and Taane Milne, and then added a penalty and crossed for a try himself.

At 12-0, Cas, who had led Wigan Warriors to victory last week, responded with tries from George Lawler and Zac Cini just before the break.

In the second half, the Giants defeated the home side and added tries from Milne, Flanagan, and Lolohea late on to move within two points of Tigers in the standings and halt the hosts’ miserable home run to just two victories in their last 13 Super League games at the Mend-a-Hose Jungle.

Danny McGuire, the head coach for Castleford, is facing an RFL investigation after complaining about the refereeing of his side’s late defeat against Wigan last week. However, the Giants’ hooker Zac Woolford was sin-binned after just 40 seconds.

The Australian appeared to have given the Tigers an early advantage by barging into Joe Westerman late and receiving a yellow card.

The only real dash in the opening half-hour came when Flanagan made a half-break and freed Jacob Gagai for a sprint down the right before sending Lolohea over. They were hit on the counter-attack by Huddersfield, which gave them the opportunity to use it.

As center Halsall, making his 50th appearance for the club, found a gap and Flanagan skillfully converted from the touchline, the Giants regrouped.

Huddersfield appeared to be taking a comfortable half-time lead, but Cas unexpectedly discovered the spirit that made them leave just before beating Wigan.

Lawler could score on Lawler’s break, and Cini’s feint and burst through two tackles, which Rowan Milnes converted both, gave the home side the lead.

The Giants, however, lost the lead in the second half as a result of the half-time break, which halted that momentum.

Milne had a chance to defeat Lolohea’s grubber, but moments later hed offload to Gagai and gained control of his team by reversing the lead.

At 18-12, Innes Senior tipped Innes Senior in the direction of the score, but when he should have scored, Flanagan landed a penalty to give the visitors some breathing room.

Danny McGuire, the coach of the Castleford Tigers, told BBC Radio Leeds:

“It was a really poor performance,” the singer said. Nothing that we discussed was done by us. We probably assumed it would be simple, but it would never be that way because of the sin-bearing early.

We didn’t want to do some of the tough things we did last week. We assumed it would just occur, which is not the case in our game.

“Huddersfield played the better team in a really bad game,” said the player. Both teams performed quick turnarounds. There is really no excuse for them because they’ve been to France.

Luke Robinson, the coach of the Huddersfield Giants, told BBC Radio Leeds:

“The first ten minutes gave me a quick summary of it. In the first minute, we literally lost a man, and at that point, we just seemed so composed and composed.

The way we were playing would have been very simple to be altered, but we didn’t. We were extremely good and kept our guns. When a man down, going one up or down indicates where we were.

Interchanges: Stimson, Hall, Griffin, Milnes, and Griffin

Huddersfield: Gagai, Milne, Halsall, Swift, Lolohea, Frawley, Powell, Woolford, Wilson, Greenwood, Rushton, Cudjoe, Gagai, Gagai, Milne, and Gagai.

Golding, King, Burgess, Rush, and others exchange.

When play in his second-round match against Rinky Hijikata at Wimbledon was suspended due to bad lighting, American Ben Shelton was furious.

Shelton, the 10th seed, was in command of the third set after winning the first two sets 6-2, 7-5, and was possibly on the verge of a full recovery.

However, the umpire on court two announced that there would be no more play that evening, much to Shelton’s shock, as the clock was approaching 21:30 and the sun was starting to fade.

The 22-year-old, who has previously reached the Grand Slam semi-finals, yelled bitterly to officials about the decision, which could result in him playing only one game on Friday, which would prevent him from getting a full day off.

First round leaderboard for the Women’s Irish Open

-5 A Swayne (USVI), -6 B Fernandez (Esp), -5 C Tamburlini (Swi), -5 A Screen (Eng), L Pettersson (Swe), M Sagstrom (Swe), and M Rhodes (Eng)

class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>Selected others: class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>-3 C Hull (Eng), class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>-2 G Hall (Eng) class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>-1 L Maguire (Ire), + 2 A Nordqvist (Swe).

After the opening round of Carton House, Spain’s Blanca Fernandez and Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini shared the Women’s Irish Open lead.

A group that includes English trio Lottie Woad, Mimi Rhodes, and Hannah Screen is one shot back, but home favorite Leona Maguire is five points clear.

Fernandez and Tamburlini made the most of the challenging circumstances, which included a swirling wind and a few showers.

Both golfers recorded seven birdies and one bogey during the round, with Tamburlini chipping in once on three of the final four holes.

World number one amateur Woad and Screen on five under, along with world number one amateur Alexandra Swayne, Madelene Sagstroem, and Lisa Patterson, who represents the United States Virgin Islands, were joined by Order of Merit leader Rhodes. The sextet is only one shot off the pace in a crowded leaderboard.

Indeed, only two strokes separate the top 19 players from Emma Fleming, who won the Victorian Amateur Championship last month, with 11 more a shot back.

Maguire finished day one with a 72, which put her and three other Irish players on one-under-par despite a frustrating day on the greens.

Sagstrom scored the best round of the five, while England’s Charley Hull (-3) and Georgia Hall (-2) are in good shape heading into day two, which means a number of Maguire’s Solheim Cup team-mates had a strong start.

British no. 1 Jack Draper insists a subpar performance was not due to increased pressure at this year’s tournament, but that he was not “good enough” in a shocking second-round exit to the Wimbledon.

Draper fell to 36-year-old Marin Cilic, who was seeded fourth at the All England Club, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

The 23-year-old was the highest-ranked home player since Andy Murray won the men’s title in 2017 and was the highest seeded player there.

Murray won Wimbledon for the first time in 77 years in 2013, and he added his second title three years later. He retired last year.

“It makes me believe that Andy’s success in winning here twice was just unbelievable,” Draper said.

“It’s not the pressure,” he said. I didn’t intend to go out there because I felt a lot of pressure. You [journalists] frequently mention it.

Draper now looks like a real Wimbledon contender thanks to his incredible rise over the past year.

The Englishman has reached two additional ATP Tour finals, the semi-finals of the US Open, and the prestigious Indian Wells title in a year.

Many experts believed his game could be transferred to the Wimbledon grass after winning a title on the Stuttgart grass last year and making it to the Queen’s semi-finals last month despite being ill.

In all truth, Draper said, “I’ve been really disappointed with the way my game’s been on the grass this year.

On the grass, I really struggled. On the hard courts and the clay, I had a great time.

The left-hander’s serve and forehand were praised as the key positions, but Cilic, who finished second overall in 2017, pushed him too far in the court, causing his veteran to lose his game as he regressed through the years.

“I think the hole in my forehand definitely appeared,” Draper said.

“I couldn’t handle the ball he threw into my forehand.” I was overspinning a lot.

I believe that because I can create the speed and spin I want, and the effectiveness of that, a lot of my success this year with my forehand comes from having more time.

Todd Woodbridge, a 1997 Wimbledon singles semi-finalist and nine-time champion, appeared on BBC TV.

I didn’t believe Jack Draper had any nerves; instead, I felt good about his actions.

Just as I expected, I didn’t like how things turned out for him. Because Cilic’s beautiful ball-striking return was impacted by the left-handed serve, the matchup was awkward.

Cilic then used his forehand to dictate when he returned the ball in a deep direction. He dispensed all of Draper’s weapons, and he [Draper] never actually had the freedom to dictate play.

Draper didn’t return well enough if you went over all the statistics.

Although I thought he received a lot of balls, Cilic had the ball to dictate. Cilic had to dominate him in that area when Cilic was serving second.

Draper’s backhand was used far too frequently, and that wasn’t his weapon.

After the German club confirmed a deal had been reached, Chelsea are expected to complete the signing of Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens.

The 20-year-old England Under-21 player will cost £48.5m plus £3.5m in add-ons.

The clubs met in Fort Lauderdale to discuss the transfer, which is taking place simultaneously in the United States for the Club World Cup.

Dortmund claim that their contract terms are still being worked out, but Gittens and Chelsea already signed a seven-year deal in June.

“Jamie is a fantastic player who has enriched our lives.” We wish him the best of luck and success as he enters the next phase of his Chelsea career.

Gittens, who left Manchester City for Dortmund in 2020, has a total of 107 goals and assists.

He wouldn’t be able to play for the Blues until after the Club World Cup.

This summer, Chelsea has already signed Strasbourg defender Mamadou Sarr, Brighton forward Joao Pedro, and midfielder Dario Essugo.