Castleford Beat Giants For First Super League Win

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Castleford Tigers (16) 34


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


Huddersfield Giants (4) 8


Tries: Gagai, Flanagan


Ashton Golding scored on his Castleford debut versus previous club Huddersfield Giants to complete Tigers' first Super League win of the season.


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


Tom Weaver then got 2 essential second-half shots, either side of George Flanagan's four-pointer, to put Tigers on the method to sealing a very first league win under head coach Ryan Carr.


The greatest event of the night was reserved for Golding, as he crossed for an unforgettable first try for his brand-new club versus the side he left after 5 years at the end of last season.


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The early season type and bad luck of the West Yorkshire rivals had mirrored one another before their conference at the OneBore Stadium. Both had actually been winless, meaningless and struck 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 hurt regulars themselves, consisting of Liam Sutcliff, Joe Greenwood and Harry Rushton due to the fact that of lengthy lay-offs.


France worldwide Tanguy Zenon started for injury-hit Huddersfield simply 2 days after joining the club, while there were Tigers debuts for Wigan loanee George Hirst and previous Giants set Jack Ashworth and Golding.


Hood provided the hosts the perfect start, darting from dummy-half to grab his 2nd 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 tired out Giants defence that had been pinned back on their line after Taane Milne distributed a careless penalty for his high hit on Krystian Mapapalangi.


Milne remained in the sin-bin when Lawler crashed over under the posts for Castleford's 3rd shot in the 26th minute, however after that it was who completed the half more powerful, 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 inefficient looking for a method back into the game before Weaver got on completion of a brilliantly weighted grubber kick from Daejarn Asi to edge Castleford 18 points ahead.


Flanagan offered Giants renewed hope when he hit back quickly after, however a 2nd from Weaver put the result beyond doubt before Golding crashed over to spark wild events.


'We play for this winning feeling' - reaction


Castleford Tigers head coach Ryan Carr informed BBC Radio Leeds:


"That's what we bet, we play to win and bet this feeling right now.


"I'm really happy for my team and actually pleased for everybody involved in our club due to the fact that a lot of work has actually 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 difficult work they have actually done since day one of pre-season, is enjoyable.


"But it is one win, we need to keep ensuring we perform regularly weekly now."


"I thought we were rubbish, as plain and easy as that.


"We just robbed ourselves of energy with the amont of dropped balls that we had in that very first half. The lads attempted hard, however they were exhausted.


"I think they finished 100% [of their sets] in the 2nd half, and we completed around 60-odd. If you simply provide the opposition the ball over and over again, you are going to get the exact same outcome.


"Eventually it just robs you of energy and you are essentially using fumes.


"Look, they are running around, rushing and trying their hardest but ultimately it just comes back to bite you. We just require to discover and require to find out fast."


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.


Referee: Matty Lynn.