In the words of Neil Diamond “Where it began, I can’t begin to knowing, but then I know it’s going strong. Was in the spring, and the spring became the summer; who’d have believed you’d come along. Sweet CASTLEFORD”. It was almost prophetic that the first verse of Sweet Caroline could have been taken up by Cas fans, because who’d have believed that Daryl coming along should show such a transformation from the short period of Ian Millward’s reign as Chief Coach? The first sign of what was to come was in the two warm up games against York and Bradford when Cas scored over 60 points against both of them prior to the 2014 season also known as Super League XlX. As the first match of the season was to be a return to
Odsal to take on Bradford Bulls, had the 66-10 win in the first encounter only 2 weeks before been a harbinger of what was to come? Well not exactly, as Cas the halftime score of 6-6 suggested that in Super
League Bradford would be much more formidable, but Cas pulled away in the second half to win 36-18 with tries from Weller Hauraki, Justin Carney, Luke Dorn, Grant Millington, Daryl Clark and Kirk Dixon who also
kicked 6 goals. Daryl Clark had actually been sold to Warrington to save Cas from going into liquidation,
but allowed to spend the whole season with Cas on loan. Similarly Marc Sneyd joined Cas on a season’s loan from Salford after the Lancashire club had signed Rangi Chase from Cas. Other players making their
debuts were Liam Finn signed from Featherstone, Frankie Mariano from Wakefield, and Scott Wheeldon from London Broncos. The first home match for Cas was the visit of Catalans which Cas won 32-6 with Justin Carney scoring a hat trick of tries and Marc Sneyd taking over the goal kicking duties converting 4. Cas then beat Hull KR 30-10 at Craven Park with a hat trick from Richard Owen, followed by a remarkable home match against Wigan in which the warriors seemed to have won the match with a drop goal in the last minute, only for Cas to retaliate with a last minute try to win 36-31, Luke Dorn scoring a brace of tries. Next
up was a home match against Hull FC before a Sunday crowd of 9,867 as Cas, probably not at their best, were 6-12 behind at the interval but eventually won 19-16. With 5 wins from their first 5 matches Cas were top of the League as Sweet Caroline blazed out for the second week running. At Salford Cas took the lead but eventually lost 16-23 for their first defeat of the season, but took their frustrations out in London against the Broncos with a comprehensive 54-6 win where both Michael Shenton and Justin Carney scored a couple of tries each and Jamie Ellis kicking 9 goals. Batley were brushed aside in the Challenge Cup 48-10,
and Cas seemed to have the game at home to St Helens stitched up at halftime with a 24-6 lead and indeed even after the full time hooter had sounded, Saints managed somehow to keep the ball alive and eventually the pressure told as Cas conceded a try to lose 28-30. However Cas pulled off an Easter double
by easily winning 43-20 at Wakefield on Good Friday with Daryl Clark, Scott Wheeldon and Richard Owen in his last match each scoring twice. On Easter Monday with a brilliant display beat Warrington at home 40-6
with Michael Shenton scoring a hat trick and James Clare scoring twice. Sheffield Eagles were disposed of in the 5th Round of the Challenge Cup 60-16 with the minimum of fuss but at Huddersfield in the next League match a Danny Brough drop goal separated the teams as Cas lost 28-29. Before a home crowd of 9,208 Cas then let a 14-12 interval lead against Leeds slip away as they failed to score in the second half and ultimately lost 14-22. However another fine win 50-12 in the Magic Weekend at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester against Wakefield with 2 tries apiece from Daryl Clark, Justin Carney and Marc Sneyd who also
kicked 7 goals sent the Cas fans home happy. Lee Jewitt made his debut in this match. Cas then found themselves 10-12 behind at home to Widnes, but a brace of tries from Luke Dorn turned the game around
as Cas won 34-22, and Luke Dorn kept up his great form with a hat trick of tries a week later as Cas beat Hull KR at home 54-12. The Quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup were next up and in atrocious conditions Cas surprised Wigan with a 16-4 away win. Six days later the two teams met again at the same venue, but Cas lost 6-46 following that up with 16-38 trouncing at St Helens 9 days later. Cas then struggled to beat
Salford at home 14-10, but then won 40-20 at Widnes on their artificial pitch with a Daryl Clark hat trick of tries and a couple from Michael Shenton. Cas then beat Huddersfield 44-30 at home with a couple of tries from Liam Finn. Then followed a couple of drawn matches away from home, 24-24 at Leeds and 18-18 at Hull where Cas found themselves behind for much of the match. London Broncos were then swamped at the Jungle 64-18 including 3 tries from Justin Carney and 2 each from Luke Dorn and Kirk Dixon. The
Semifinal of the Challenge Cup was to played at Leigh, and Cas easily brushed aside Widnes 28-6 before a
crowd of 12,005 as tries from Liam Finn, Daryl Clark, Kirk Dixon, Jamie Ellis and Jake Webster saw Cas reach their first Final for 22 years. Cas rested several players for the match at Warrington and duly lost 10-48 as they prepared for the Challenge Cup Final against Leeds Rhinos at the new Wembley Stadium. However before a crowd of 77,914 Cas just didn’t turn up Marc Sneyd’s kicking game was particularly poor as he was substituted for Jamie Ellis, but Cas still lost 10-23. Cas though still had a chance of heading the League with 3 matches remaining especially as 2 of them were at home. Already relegated Bradford Bulls didn’t provide too much of a problem as Cas won 32-18 despite an unimpressive performance. Wakefield who had struggled all season were next up and Cas seemed well on top with a 22-10 interval lead before a crowd of 9,182, but then got the wobbles as Trinity fought back to cut the deficit to a mere 4 points but Cas held out to win 26-22 with 2 tries from James Clare. Results went favourably for Cas before the trip to Perpignan to end the League season. All Cas had to do was beat Catalans and they would snatch the title over St Helens on points difference, but Cas never looked like winning and lost 6-28 to finish 4th, two points behind Saints and a point behind both Wigan and Huddersfield. Cas were annihilated 0-41 at St Helens in the First Round of the Playoffs, but still had a second chance in the Second Round at home to Warrington, but had really shot their bolt as they lost 14-30. It was the final match for both loanees Daryl Clark and Marc Sneyd as they left for Warrington and Hull FC respectively. Also for Craig Huby, Weller Hauraki and Kirk Dixon as Justin Carney was top try scorer with 24, followed by Luke Dorn with 19, Michael Shenton 18, Daryl Clark 16, Kirk Dixon 15 and James Clare 11. Top goal scorer was Marc Sneyd with 116 for a grand total of 262 points. Kirk Dixon’s career record of 1,068 points in 188 matches was outstanding with 95 tries and 344 goals. St Helens won the Grand Final for the first time in 8 years as they beat Wigan 14-6. Bradford Bulls and LondonBroncos
were both relegated as Super League was reduced to 12 clubs once more for the following season, as were Swinton and Barrow from National League 1 where Leigh finished League Leaders.
Finn, Daryl Clark,
History of Rugby League in Castleford
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
I don’t recall the conditions at Wigan in the cup as atrocious???
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Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Heavy rain throughout all of the match
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Season 2015 known as Super League XXl now back to only 12 clubs competing saw an innovation of as well as each club playing each other once home and away plus the Magic Weekend after 23 matches, the League table then frozen with the top 8 playing each other once more in the Super 8s in which the top 4 would have 4 home games and 3 away games whilst the 5th to 8th teams would have 3 home games and 4 away games. Thereafter the top 4 would participate in the playoffs with the team finishing 1st having a home tie against the 4th placed team, whilst the 2nd placed team would have home advantage against the 3rd placed team with the winners playing in the Grand Final. Meanwhile the teams finishing 8th to 12th after 23 matches would play the top 4 Championship teams in a mini-League once each starting with zero points and the top 3 would participate in Super League in the following season along with a playoff match winner between the 4th and 5th placed team in this mini-League called the Middle 8s. As for Cas they included 4 debutants in their opening home match before a crowd of 10,728 against Wakefield - Denny Solomona, Luke Gale, Junior Moors and Steve Crossley. At halftime Cas led 16-6 but the Wildcats fought back with 3 converted tries resulting in a 22-24 defeat for the Tigers. Defeats in the next 2 matches in Perpignan against Catalans 12-13 in which Ben Roberts made his debut and 14-21 at St Helens in which Mike
McMeeken made his debut wasn’t the start that Cas needed. However Cas made slight amends by beating Wigan at home 42-14 in the next match when Justin Carney scored 2 of the 7 tries got Cas off the mark, although a 0-22 at Huddersfield was a setback. Cas had a habit of finding it difficult to score against the top teams especially away from home, but at home were more successful as they won both of their next 2 home matches against Salford where Justin Carney scored a brace in a 30-16 win and Luke Gale scored a couple of tries in the 20-14 win against Hull FC before a crowd of 9,774. The next match was another home match but Cas lost it 12-26 against Leeds before a crowd of 11,235 although Michael Shenton scored a couple of tries. Next up Cas recorded their first away win of the season 22-14 with a splendid performance against Warrington and consolidated that by beating Hull KR at home 25-4. Cas then surprisingly lost 16-46
at Widnes, but continued their mini recovery by winning 22-20 at Salford where Ashley Gibson scored a brace. Again though Cas failed to trouble the scorers as they lost 0-28 at Wigan, then lost away to Hull FC
14-40 in the Challenge Cup before succumbing to a 16-24 home defeat to Huddersfield. However things picked up at the Magic Weekend at St James’s Park, Newcastle where Cas extracted ample revenge for the
opening day defeat to Wakefield by beating the Wildcats 58-20 in a magnificent display with 4 tries from Denny Solomona and a hat trick from Ashley Gibson. That win was the first of a 5 match winning run as in Jordan Tansey’s last match Cas won 30-22 at Craven Park against Hull KR and at Headingley 31-24 against Leeds where Denny Solomona scored a couple of tries to avenge the home defeat against the Rhinos in April. Then followed what arguably might be considered the match of the season against St Helens as Cas
10-18 behind at halftime fought back to level the scores at 24-24, and with time running out were bombarding the Saints line with apparent little chance of success when Ben Roberts received the ball after the hooter sounded and scored a magnificent drop goal to win the match 25-24. Cas then gave Gadwin Springer his debut from the bench as they beat Widnes at home 34-20 with Denny Solomona scoring a hat
trick of tries. The winning run ended as Cas narrowly lost 18-21 away to Hull FC where Denny Solomona scored another couple of tries, but order was restored at Wakefield after a close first half with Cas leading they absolutely blew the Wildcats away in the second half with Justin Carney scoring 4 tries and Luke Dorn 2 as they won 58-20. The 23 League season finished though on a sour note as Cas lost at 6-44 at home to
Warrington. Nevertheless Cas entered the Super 8 with a 36-30 home win against Hull FC with Paul McShane making his debut and Michael Shenton scoring 4 tries, and followed that up with a 17-16 home win against Warrington with 2 more Justin Carney tries thus gaining some revenge for the defeat against the Warriors only 18 days beforehand. However Carney and Liam Finn made their final appearances in Perpignan as Cas were beaten 26-44 and all hope of a playoff place extinguished. They then lost 26-40 at Huddersfield and 38-42 at home to St Helens in a 13 try extravaganza in which both Luke Dorn and Ben Roberts scored a couple of tries each. Cas then won away to Leeds 29-22 including 2 Luke Gale tries, but the season ended on a sour note as Cas lost 12-47 at Wigan to finish a respectable 5th with 32 points albeit
6 points short of a playoff place. Top try scorers were Justin Carney and Denny Solomona with 18 each, followed by Michael Shenton with 14, Luke Gale 11 (who also kicked 102 goals)and Luke Dorn 10. Leeds Rhinos completed a clean sweep of the silverware by winning the League Leaders Trophy, beating Wigan Warriors
22-20 in the Grand Final and annihilating Hull KR 50-0 in the Challenge Cup Final.
McMeeken made his debut wasn’t the start that Cas needed. However Cas made slight amends by beating Wigan at home 42-14 in the next match when Justin Carney scored 2 of the 7 tries got Cas off the mark, although a 0-22 at Huddersfield was a setback. Cas had a habit of finding it difficult to score against the top teams especially away from home, but at home were more successful as they won both of their next 2 home matches against Salford where Justin Carney scored a brace in a 30-16 win and Luke Gale scored a couple of tries in the 20-14 win against Hull FC before a crowd of 9,774. The next match was another home match but Cas lost it 12-26 against Leeds before a crowd of 11,235 although Michael Shenton scored a couple of tries. Next up Cas recorded their first away win of the season 22-14 with a splendid performance against Warrington and consolidated that by beating Hull KR at home 25-4. Cas then surprisingly lost 16-46
at Widnes, but continued their mini recovery by winning 22-20 at Salford where Ashley Gibson scored a brace. Again though Cas failed to trouble the scorers as they lost 0-28 at Wigan, then lost away to Hull FC
14-40 in the Challenge Cup before succumbing to a 16-24 home defeat to Huddersfield. However things picked up at the Magic Weekend at St James’s Park, Newcastle where Cas extracted ample revenge for the
opening day defeat to Wakefield by beating the Wildcats 58-20 in a magnificent display with 4 tries from Denny Solomona and a hat trick from Ashley Gibson. That win was the first of a 5 match winning run as in Jordan Tansey’s last match Cas won 30-22 at Craven Park against Hull KR and at Headingley 31-24 against Leeds where Denny Solomona scored a couple of tries to avenge the home defeat against the Rhinos in April. Then followed what arguably might be considered the match of the season against St Helens as Cas
10-18 behind at halftime fought back to level the scores at 24-24, and with time running out were bombarding the Saints line with apparent little chance of success when Ben Roberts received the ball after the hooter sounded and scored a magnificent drop goal to win the match 25-24. Cas then gave Gadwin Springer his debut from the bench as they beat Widnes at home 34-20 with Denny Solomona scoring a hat
trick of tries. The winning run ended as Cas narrowly lost 18-21 away to Hull FC where Denny Solomona scored another couple of tries, but order was restored at Wakefield after a close first half with Cas leading they absolutely blew the Wildcats away in the second half with Justin Carney scoring 4 tries and Luke Dorn 2 as they won 58-20. The 23 League season finished though on a sour note as Cas lost at 6-44 at home to
Warrington. Nevertheless Cas entered the Super 8 with a 36-30 home win against Hull FC with Paul McShane making his debut and Michael Shenton scoring 4 tries, and followed that up with a 17-16 home win against Warrington with 2 more Justin Carney tries thus gaining some revenge for the defeat against the Warriors only 18 days beforehand. However Carney and Liam Finn made their final appearances in Perpignan as Cas were beaten 26-44 and all hope of a playoff place extinguished. They then lost 26-40 at Huddersfield and 38-42 at home to St Helens in a 13 try extravaganza in which both Luke Dorn and Ben Roberts scored a couple of tries each. Cas then won away to Leeds 29-22 including 2 Luke Gale tries, but the season ended on a sour note as Cas lost 12-47 at Wigan to finish a respectable 5th with 32 points albeit
6 points short of a playoff place. Top try scorers were Justin Carney and Denny Solomona with 18 each, followed by Michael Shenton with 14, Luke Gale 11 (who also kicked 102 goals)and Luke Dorn 10. Leeds Rhinos completed a clean sweep of the silverware by winning the League Leaders Trophy, beating Wigan Warriors
22-20 in the Grand Final and annihilating Hull KR 50-0 in the Challenge Cup Final.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Season 2016 known as Super League XXl started with an away match against Hull KR where Joel Monaghan signed from Warrington and Ben Crook signed from Hull FC made their debuts as Cas conceded a late converted try by Josh Montellato to deny Cas a winning start as the game finished 16-16, but the really bad news was that Michael Shenton received a really bad leg injury which kept him out for the rest of the season. Wakefield had retained their Super League status by beating Bradford in Super League XX but they were no match for Cas as a crowd of 9,761 watched Cas win 40-6 with 2 tries each from Denny Solomona and Oliver Holmes. Jy Hitchcox made a 2 try debut away at Hull, and with Denny Solomona scoring a hat
trick Cas won 31-24. However Cas lost again at St Helens albeit only 22-28, but despite Denny Solomona scoring a hat trick in the next match at home to Salford, Cas were soundly beaten 16-32, but worse was to come as Cas were humiliated at Warrington as they lost 12-56. Greg Minikin made his debut in the next match at home to Leeds where a crowd of 11,426 were overjoyed to witness Cas come from behind 12-14 at the interval to win 18-14 with a couple of tries from Jake Webster and one from Andy Lynch. A visit to France
to play Catalans is always difficult and Cas were well beaten there 22-41, before entertaining Huddersfield
next as Jy Hitchcox scored a hat trick and Mike McMeeken scored twice as Cas won 38-34. Next up was a
34-24 win at Widnes but Cas lost their next 3 matches 12-26 at Wigan, an embarrassing 16-58 home defeat against Hull KR when Larne Patrick was drafted into the side suffering from a spate of injuries, and then another home defeat to St Helens 20-30 where Conor Fitzsimmons made his debut from the bench.
Danny Tickle was drafted in for the hone Challenge Cup match against Salford and Cas did well to win
32-18 as Mike McMeeken and Denny Solomona both scored a couple of tries each. In the next match Cas recorded their biggest ever win at Headingley against Leeds as Luke Dorn scored a hat trick, Denny Solomona scored twice, and Joel Monaghan, Gadwin Springer, Ben Crooks and Grant Millington in a 9 try
extravaganza as Luke Gale converted 8 of them in a 52-12 win. Cas then put on a marvellous performance at Newcastle in the Magic Weekend as they tore Warrington apart 34-14 with 2 tries each from Luke Dorn and Denny Solomona and one each from Grant Millington and Mike McMeeken. However Cas were brought down back to earth as they were beaten at home by Wigan 26-33 although Denny Solomona scored a couple of tries. Cas then won at Huddersfield 30-22 as Denny Solomona again scored a couple of tries as did Jake Webster. However Cas lost their next 2 home matches to Widnes 28-38 when loanee Paddy Flynn scored a hat trick for Cas, and then to Hull FC 22-24 before a crowd of 10,790 despite Denny Solomona scoring a couple of tries. The Quarterfinal of the Challenge Cup was up next but Cas lost at Wigan 12-26. The losing streak continue with a 18-22 defeat at Salford despite Jake Webster scoring a couple of tries. The
losing sequence was broken with a 38-24 home win against Catalans when both Ryan Hampshire and Luke
Dorm scored a couple of tries each, but although Denny Solomona scored 4 tries at home to Warrington,
Cas allowed a 18-16 halftime slip to a 26-42 defeat. Cas though finished the season in a blaze of glory with 6 wins from their final 8 matches. First of all Cas continued their sequence of wins over Wakefield as they won at Belle Vue 46-20 including 2 tries from Greg Minikin, then in the first of the Super 8 matches Cas won
away at Hull 30-16 where Ryan Hampshire scored a brace of tries. Cas followed that up with a 36-22 home
win over Wigan 36-22 when Denny Solomona scored another hat trick. Cas then lost at Warrington 11-14, but followed that with the usual home win against Wakefield 46-22 and another Solomona hat trick. After the usual defeat at St Helens 16-40, Cas finished the season with 2 more wins, away to Catalans 38-24, their first in Perpignan in 8 visits, with the 6 tries being shared equally between Paddy Flynn, Ben Crooks and
Denny Solomona. The final match was at home to Widnes when Denny Solomona scored another hat trick in a 40-26 win breaking the Super League try scoring record by scoring 42 tries in 29 appearances. Luke Dorn said goodbye as he returned to Australia with 14 tries, the same number as Jake Webster, whilst Luke Gale kicked 120 goals. Paddy Flynn and Ryan Hampshire left as Cas again finished 5th with 31 points but 9 short of a playoff place. Warrington won the League Leaders Thophy but lost 6-12 to Wigan in the Grand Final. Leigh Centurians gained promotion to Super League after topping the Championship for the third season running and by finishing 3rd in the Middle 8s, whilst Hull KR were relegated to a last minute penalty
from Salford who retained their Super League status. Hull FC won the Challenge Cup by beating Warrington
12-10. The two Cumbrian clubs, Whitehaven and Workington were relegated from National League 1 to be replaced by Toulouse Olympique, who won 20 and drew 1 of their 21 League games and Rochdale Hornets.
trick Cas won 31-24. However Cas lost again at St Helens albeit only 22-28, but despite Denny Solomona scoring a hat trick in the next match at home to Salford, Cas were soundly beaten 16-32, but worse was to come as Cas were humiliated at Warrington as they lost 12-56. Greg Minikin made his debut in the next match at home to Leeds where a crowd of 11,426 were overjoyed to witness Cas come from behind 12-14 at the interval to win 18-14 with a couple of tries from Jake Webster and one from Andy Lynch. A visit to France
to play Catalans is always difficult and Cas were well beaten there 22-41, before entertaining Huddersfield
next as Jy Hitchcox scored a hat trick and Mike McMeeken scored twice as Cas won 38-34. Next up was a
34-24 win at Widnes but Cas lost their next 3 matches 12-26 at Wigan, an embarrassing 16-58 home defeat against Hull KR when Larne Patrick was drafted into the side suffering from a spate of injuries, and then another home defeat to St Helens 20-30 where Conor Fitzsimmons made his debut from the bench.
Danny Tickle was drafted in for the hone Challenge Cup match against Salford and Cas did well to win
32-18 as Mike McMeeken and Denny Solomona both scored a couple of tries each. In the next match Cas recorded their biggest ever win at Headingley against Leeds as Luke Dorn scored a hat trick, Denny Solomona scored twice, and Joel Monaghan, Gadwin Springer, Ben Crooks and Grant Millington in a 9 try
extravaganza as Luke Gale converted 8 of them in a 52-12 win. Cas then put on a marvellous performance at Newcastle in the Magic Weekend as they tore Warrington apart 34-14 with 2 tries each from Luke Dorn and Denny Solomona and one each from Grant Millington and Mike McMeeken. However Cas were brought down back to earth as they were beaten at home by Wigan 26-33 although Denny Solomona scored a couple of tries. Cas then won at Huddersfield 30-22 as Denny Solomona again scored a couple of tries as did Jake Webster. However Cas lost their next 2 home matches to Widnes 28-38 when loanee Paddy Flynn scored a hat trick for Cas, and then to Hull FC 22-24 before a crowd of 10,790 despite Denny Solomona scoring a couple of tries. The Quarterfinal of the Challenge Cup was up next but Cas lost at Wigan 12-26. The losing streak continue with a 18-22 defeat at Salford despite Jake Webster scoring a couple of tries. The
losing sequence was broken with a 38-24 home win against Catalans when both Ryan Hampshire and Luke
Dorm scored a couple of tries each, but although Denny Solomona scored 4 tries at home to Warrington,
Cas allowed a 18-16 halftime slip to a 26-42 defeat. Cas though finished the season in a blaze of glory with 6 wins from their final 8 matches. First of all Cas continued their sequence of wins over Wakefield as they won at Belle Vue 46-20 including 2 tries from Greg Minikin, then in the first of the Super 8 matches Cas won
away at Hull 30-16 where Ryan Hampshire scored a brace of tries. Cas followed that up with a 36-22 home
win over Wigan 36-22 when Denny Solomona scored another hat trick. Cas then lost at Warrington 11-14, but followed that with the usual home win against Wakefield 46-22 and another Solomona hat trick. After the usual defeat at St Helens 16-40, Cas finished the season with 2 more wins, away to Catalans 38-24, their first in Perpignan in 8 visits, with the 6 tries being shared equally between Paddy Flynn, Ben Crooks and
Denny Solomona. The final match was at home to Widnes when Denny Solomona scored another hat trick in a 40-26 win breaking the Super League try scoring record by scoring 42 tries in 29 appearances. Luke Dorn said goodbye as he returned to Australia with 14 tries, the same number as Jake Webster, whilst Luke Gale kicked 120 goals. Paddy Flynn and Ryan Hampshire left as Cas again finished 5th with 31 points but 9 short of a playoff place. Warrington won the League Leaders Thophy but lost 6-12 to Wigan in the Grand Final. Leigh Centurians gained promotion to Super League after topping the Championship for the third season running and by finishing 3rd in the Middle 8s, whilst Hull KR were relegated to a last minute penalty
from Salford who retained their Super League status. Hull FC won the Challenge Cup by beating Warrington
12-10. The two Cumbrian clubs, Whitehaven and Workington were relegated from National League 1 to be replaced by Toulouse Olympique, who won 20 and drew 1 of their 21 League games and Rochdale Hornets.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
The 6th line from the end should read Trophy, not Thophy of course.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
thanks Ken for your input
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Great info as always Ken. However, we signed Ben Crooks from Parramatta Eels, not Hull FC
Cannot wait to read about 2017!!!!
Cannot wait to read about 2017!!!!
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Really enjoying these reads. Thank you for posting them pal. Tony
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
What a magnificent season 2017 was known as Super League XXll as Cas entertained newly promoted Leigh Centurions in their first match. After withstanding heavy pressure from the visitors, Cas showed their class Grant Millington offloaded to Luke Game who score midway through the first half. Soon after Millington was at it again sending Jesse Sene-Lefao through for the second try as Greg Minikin scored two tries the second of which was put on a plate for him by Jake Webster and with Luke Gale converting all four
tries as well as kicking a penalty Cas more or less had the game won at halftime with a 26-0 lead. Further tries from Junior Moors, Luke Gale and Greg Eden from a Michael Shenton pass. Three consolation tries from
Leigh somewhat flattered the visitors as Cas won 44-16. Next up was a visit to Warrington and Cas after conceding the first try, then scored 4 tries in a devastating 8 minute spell from Jesse Sene-Lefao, Zak Hardaker after stunning play from Mike McMeeken and Rangi Chase, Greg Eden after Luke Gale and Zak Hardaker, and then Luke Gale scored from a scintillating run from Zak Hardaker to give Cas a 22-10 interval
lead. Adam Milner created space for Greg Minikin to score the 4th try, and although the Wolves fought back to reduce the arrears to 4 points, a Greg Eden try settled the match 30-22 in Cas’s favour. A full house of 11,500 next greated Cas in the complete domination of the next match at home to Leeds where in another stunning performance Cas were 30-0 ahead at halftime as Junior Moors sidestepped 3 defenders to set up the first try for Luke Gale to offload for Greg Minikin to score, and before halftime Minikin had completed his hat trick, Greg Eden had scored a brace and Mike McMeeken had also scored. Zak Hardaker and Paul McShane soon added to the score in the second half, before Leeds got on the scoresheet, but Cas weren’t finished yet as Jake Webster scored, Greg Eden completed his hat trick, and then Luke Gale and Michael Shenton completed the rout before the Rhinos scored a consolation try. The 66-10 win was Cas’s biggest ever win against the Loiners, and so full of confidence were Cas now that the 34-0 win at Widnes with a brace of tries from both Greg Minikin and Greg Eden, plus single tries from Michael Shenton and Matt Cook confirmed Cas as favourites to win at least the League Leaders Trophy. So it was something of a surprise that Cas should lose at Salford especially as tries from Luke Gale and Greg Minikin had given Cas a 12-4 lead in the second half although the latter was injured in the act of scoring and took no further part in the
match. Eventually Ben Murdoch-Masila scored his second try for the Red Devils and Gareth O’Brien kicked a penalty and a drop goal as Cas lost 12-13. The visit of Catalans seemed to upset Cas as they found themselves 0-14 down, but by halftime Cas had overturned the deficit to lead 22-14 with tries from Zak Hardaker, Grant Millington, Joel Monaghan replacing the injured Greg Minikin and Greg Eden. Although Catalans reduced the deficit to a mere 2 points in the second half, Cas soon took control again with further tries from Junior Moors, Michael Shenton and a second one from Greg Eden ensured a 43-26 win for Cas. Next up Cas were at home to Huddersfield and had established a 16-4 lead by halftime with tries from Ben Roberts from a Luke Gale kick, Jake Webster and Mike McMeeken from a nice Paul McShane pass. Luke Gale then scored a second half hat trick, Adam Milner scored a try, and winger Joel Monaghan 2 more to complete his hat trick also as Cas won 52-16. The big test though was to be the trip to Wigan, and Cas passed it with flying colours admittedly against a patched up Warriors side, although Cas themselves lost Michael Shenton with a back injury in the warm up. However despite a slow start it didn’t deter Cas from taking a 14-0 lead as Ben Roberts produced a wonderful pass to set up a try forJake Webster, a wonderful offload from Jesse Sene-Lefao to set up a try for Luke Gale, and then a penalty from the latter. Sene-Lefao and Greg Eden scored second half tries as Cas won 27-10. The visit of Wakefield attracted a crowd of 10,349 as Cas conceded first, but soon clicked into gear with tries from Ben Roberts, a couple from both Jake Webster and Grant Millington established a 36-12 interval lead. Cas eased off in the second half, though Greg Eden scored a try as Cas won 42-24. Then came 2 testing away games at St Helens and Hull, and despite a Greg Eden try and a Luke Gale penalty giving Cas an 8-0 lead, they found themselves 8-20 behind at halftime. However a fine individual try from Ben Roberts and a Greg Eden try pulled the deficit to 18-20, but a second Ben Roberts try was merely a consolation as Cas lost 22-26 to extend their losing run away to the Saints to 23 years. As for the away game against Hull FC Cas were 0-18 down before 2 tries from Ben Roberts and single tries from Greg Minikin, Michael Shenton and Mike McMeeken made the score more respectable as Cas lost 24-26. By this time Cas had won 8 of their first 11 matches, but then won the next 12 League matches to take the League by storm. The first of those dozen wins was at home to Wigan before a crowd of 9,333 as Cas annihilated the Warriors 54-4 with a first minute try from Adam Milner, and further tries from Michael Shenton, Matt Cook and Mike McMeeken before halftime, then 2 from Greg Minikin,
and further tries from Luke Gale, Grant Millington and Jake Webster. Cas struggled somewhat in the away fixture at Huddersfield mainly because they were without their England trio of Luke Gale, Zak Hardaker and
Mike McMeeken, as in a seesawing game they led 6-0 through a Joel Monaghan try, but then found themselves 6-12 behind to 2 Jake Mamo tries in 4 minutes. Greg Minikin brought the scores level, only for Mamo to complete a first half hat trick to put Cas 12-18 behind at the interval. Joel Monaghan then set up Greg Eden to bring the scores level again. A Danny Brough drop goal put the Giants ahead, but Paul McShane converted a penalty to put Cas in the lead, but that was nullified as Jake Webster was sent to the sin bin and Danny Brough converted the resulting penalty to put Cas 20-21 behind. However Brough himself
was then sent off and with 5 minutes remaining Jesse Sene-Lefao stormed over from a Paul McShane pass to score the winning try as Cas won 26-21 despite the Giants dictating the last 5 minutes. The next match was in the Challenge Cup and televised on the BBC as St Helens were blown away by a ruthless Cas side. Luke Gale set up the first try for Michael Shenton, and Tom Holmes set up Jake Webster for the second. Ryan Morgan replied for Saints, but that was as good as it got for the visitors as further tries from Jake Webster, Paul McShane, Greg Minikin and Nathan Massey established a 31-4 interval lead for Cas. A Greg Eden hat trick in the second half and another Greg Minikin try gave Cas a comfortable 53-10 win. Next up was the Magic Weekend at Newcastle and another encounter with Leeds. This looked like being a close affair as a Luke Gale try put Cas 6-0 ahead, though Kallum Watkins equalised in the 15th minute with no more scoring in the first half. However a Greg Eden hat trick and a length of the field try from Tom Holmes killed the game although the Rhinos did score 2 consolation tries as Cas won 29-18. Widnes then visited the Jungle and despite tries from Greg Eden and Gadwin Springer Cas were 10-22 behind in the second half. However Cas finished strongly with 2 further tries from Greg Eden to complete his hat trick and one each from Greg Minikin and Matt Cook ensured a 32-22 win. The visit to Leigh proved no problem as 4 tries from Greg Eden, a brace from Jesse Sene-Lefao and one from Jake Webster gave Cas a 38-0 win. After 3 wins in 10 days Daryl Powell was without the England trio of Zak Hardaker, Luke Gale and Michael Shenton for the visit of St Helens in a game that Cas were predicted by many to lose in wet conditions. Mark Percival and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook scored tries either side of an unconverted try from Kieran Gill as Cas were 4-12 behind at halftime, but Mike McMeeken and Tom Holmes scored for Cas who held on for a 16-12 win. Up next were Warrington at the Junngle and Greg Eden scored another 5 tries in another convincing performance as Cas took a 36-6 lead before conceding 2 late tries to eventually win 36-16. Up next was the Quarterfinal of the Challenge Cup and I’ll review that and the rest of the season hopefully tomorrow.
tries as well as kicking a penalty Cas more or less had the game won at halftime with a 26-0 lead. Further tries from Junior Moors, Luke Gale and Greg Eden from a Michael Shenton pass. Three consolation tries from
Leigh somewhat flattered the visitors as Cas won 44-16. Next up was a visit to Warrington and Cas after conceding the first try, then scored 4 tries in a devastating 8 minute spell from Jesse Sene-Lefao, Zak Hardaker after stunning play from Mike McMeeken and Rangi Chase, Greg Eden after Luke Gale and Zak Hardaker, and then Luke Gale scored from a scintillating run from Zak Hardaker to give Cas a 22-10 interval
lead. Adam Milner created space for Greg Minikin to score the 4th try, and although the Wolves fought back to reduce the arrears to 4 points, a Greg Eden try settled the match 30-22 in Cas’s favour. A full house of 11,500 next greated Cas in the complete domination of the next match at home to Leeds where in another stunning performance Cas were 30-0 ahead at halftime as Junior Moors sidestepped 3 defenders to set up the first try for Luke Gale to offload for Greg Minikin to score, and before halftime Minikin had completed his hat trick, Greg Eden had scored a brace and Mike McMeeken had also scored. Zak Hardaker and Paul McShane soon added to the score in the second half, before Leeds got on the scoresheet, but Cas weren’t finished yet as Jake Webster scored, Greg Eden completed his hat trick, and then Luke Gale and Michael Shenton completed the rout before the Rhinos scored a consolation try. The 66-10 win was Cas’s biggest ever win against the Loiners, and so full of confidence were Cas now that the 34-0 win at Widnes with a brace of tries from both Greg Minikin and Greg Eden, plus single tries from Michael Shenton and Matt Cook confirmed Cas as favourites to win at least the League Leaders Trophy. So it was something of a surprise that Cas should lose at Salford especially as tries from Luke Gale and Greg Minikin had given Cas a 12-4 lead in the second half although the latter was injured in the act of scoring and took no further part in the
match. Eventually Ben Murdoch-Masila scored his second try for the Red Devils and Gareth O’Brien kicked a penalty and a drop goal as Cas lost 12-13. The visit of Catalans seemed to upset Cas as they found themselves 0-14 down, but by halftime Cas had overturned the deficit to lead 22-14 with tries from Zak Hardaker, Grant Millington, Joel Monaghan replacing the injured Greg Minikin and Greg Eden. Although Catalans reduced the deficit to a mere 2 points in the second half, Cas soon took control again with further tries from Junior Moors, Michael Shenton and a second one from Greg Eden ensured a 43-26 win for Cas. Next up Cas were at home to Huddersfield and had established a 16-4 lead by halftime with tries from Ben Roberts from a Luke Gale kick, Jake Webster and Mike McMeeken from a nice Paul McShane pass. Luke Gale then scored a second half hat trick, Adam Milner scored a try, and winger Joel Monaghan 2 more to complete his hat trick also as Cas won 52-16. The big test though was to be the trip to Wigan, and Cas passed it with flying colours admittedly against a patched up Warriors side, although Cas themselves lost Michael Shenton with a back injury in the warm up. However despite a slow start it didn’t deter Cas from taking a 14-0 lead as Ben Roberts produced a wonderful pass to set up a try forJake Webster, a wonderful offload from Jesse Sene-Lefao to set up a try for Luke Gale, and then a penalty from the latter. Sene-Lefao and Greg Eden scored second half tries as Cas won 27-10. The visit of Wakefield attracted a crowd of 10,349 as Cas conceded first, but soon clicked into gear with tries from Ben Roberts, a couple from both Jake Webster and Grant Millington established a 36-12 interval lead. Cas eased off in the second half, though Greg Eden scored a try as Cas won 42-24. Then came 2 testing away games at St Helens and Hull, and despite a Greg Eden try and a Luke Gale penalty giving Cas an 8-0 lead, they found themselves 8-20 behind at halftime. However a fine individual try from Ben Roberts and a Greg Eden try pulled the deficit to 18-20, but a second Ben Roberts try was merely a consolation as Cas lost 22-26 to extend their losing run away to the Saints to 23 years. As for the away game against Hull FC Cas were 0-18 down before 2 tries from Ben Roberts and single tries from Greg Minikin, Michael Shenton and Mike McMeeken made the score more respectable as Cas lost 24-26. By this time Cas had won 8 of their first 11 matches, but then won the next 12 League matches to take the League by storm. The first of those dozen wins was at home to Wigan before a crowd of 9,333 as Cas annihilated the Warriors 54-4 with a first minute try from Adam Milner, and further tries from Michael Shenton, Matt Cook and Mike McMeeken before halftime, then 2 from Greg Minikin,
and further tries from Luke Gale, Grant Millington and Jake Webster. Cas struggled somewhat in the away fixture at Huddersfield mainly because they were without their England trio of Luke Gale, Zak Hardaker and
Mike McMeeken, as in a seesawing game they led 6-0 through a Joel Monaghan try, but then found themselves 6-12 behind to 2 Jake Mamo tries in 4 minutes. Greg Minikin brought the scores level, only for Mamo to complete a first half hat trick to put Cas 12-18 behind at the interval. Joel Monaghan then set up Greg Eden to bring the scores level again. A Danny Brough drop goal put the Giants ahead, but Paul McShane converted a penalty to put Cas in the lead, but that was nullified as Jake Webster was sent to the sin bin and Danny Brough converted the resulting penalty to put Cas 20-21 behind. However Brough himself
was then sent off and with 5 minutes remaining Jesse Sene-Lefao stormed over from a Paul McShane pass to score the winning try as Cas won 26-21 despite the Giants dictating the last 5 minutes. The next match was in the Challenge Cup and televised on the BBC as St Helens were blown away by a ruthless Cas side. Luke Gale set up the first try for Michael Shenton, and Tom Holmes set up Jake Webster for the second. Ryan Morgan replied for Saints, but that was as good as it got for the visitors as further tries from Jake Webster, Paul McShane, Greg Minikin and Nathan Massey established a 31-4 interval lead for Cas. A Greg Eden hat trick in the second half and another Greg Minikin try gave Cas a comfortable 53-10 win. Next up was the Magic Weekend at Newcastle and another encounter with Leeds. This looked like being a close affair as a Luke Gale try put Cas 6-0 ahead, though Kallum Watkins equalised in the 15th minute with no more scoring in the first half. However a Greg Eden hat trick and a length of the field try from Tom Holmes killed the game although the Rhinos did score 2 consolation tries as Cas won 29-18. Widnes then visited the Jungle and despite tries from Greg Eden and Gadwin Springer Cas were 10-22 behind in the second half. However Cas finished strongly with 2 further tries from Greg Eden to complete his hat trick and one each from Greg Minikin and Matt Cook ensured a 32-22 win. The visit to Leigh proved no problem as 4 tries from Greg Eden, a brace from Jesse Sene-Lefao and one from Jake Webster gave Cas a 38-0 win. After 3 wins in 10 days Daryl Powell was without the England trio of Zak Hardaker, Luke Gale and Michael Shenton for the visit of St Helens in a game that Cas were predicted by many to lose in wet conditions. Mark Percival and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook scored tries either side of an unconverted try from Kieran Gill as Cas were 4-12 behind at halftime, but Mike McMeeken and Tom Holmes scored for Cas who held on for a 16-12 win. Up next were Warrington at the Junngle and Greg Eden scored another 5 tries in another convincing performance as Cas took a 36-6 lead before conceding 2 late tries to eventually win 36-16. Up next was the Quarterfinal of the Challenge Cup and I’ll review that and the rest of the season hopefully tomorrow.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Before I continue, one obvious mistake in the 3rd line, Luke Gale not Luke Game. I had hoped to complete the whole of the 2017 season in one fell swoop, but with so much detail at hand I’d already spent 4 hours on research and blogging, tiredness befell me. Anyway I hope that reviewing the rest of the season doesn’t spoil the enjoyment for those interested in the history of arguably the greatest League season for many of you, so to continue now with the Challenge Cup Quarterfinal match at Hull.
The match started badly for a Cas side without Junior Moors as early as the 4th minute with Cas pressing the Airlie Birds’ line as Carlos Tuiimavave intercepted a wayward pass from Ben Roberts and ran the length of of the field to touch down. Some 8 minutes later Fetuli Talanoa doubled the host’s lead as Greg Minikin had little chance in stopping the Tongan. It’s to Cas’s credit that they managed to score twice to level the scores at 12-12 as first Ben Roberts, then Zak Hardaker taking a fine reverse kick from Luke Gale, scored near the posts. Jake Conor put Hull FC back in the lead with a penalty before halftime and scored and one early in the second half, but Ben Roberts making up for his early error, then scored to put Cas 18-16 in the lead for the first time. However Cas kept on giving penalties away and Conor kicked 2 more to restore Hull’s lead. Hull then pulled away with 2 converted tries leaving Greg Minikin’s late try academic as Cas lost 24-32 their heaviest defeat in the season at that time. As I mentioned earlier though Cas were on a winning streak in the League with 12 consecutive wins and there were 5 more of that dozen still to savour. The first of those 5 was at Headingley as Cas conceded first, but led at halftime after a try from Greg Eden as controversially the referee ruled that Paul McShane had been stripped of the ball, when in fact he had actually dropped the ball, and a penalty from Luke Gale made the score 8-6. Further tries from Zak Hardaker and Grant Millington increased the lead to 20-6. Leeds scored next through Adam Cuthbertson gave the Rhinos some hope, but a penalty and a drop goal eased Cas to a 23-12 win. Next was a home game against Hull FC, and and although Hull scored first, by halftime Cas led 20-4. However it wasn’t as easy as it sounds as Cas had to survive 5 consecutive sets on their own line as Hull made a couple of errors. Luke Gale scored an opportunist try from a Marc Sneyd error, Fetuli Talanoa fumbled a Luke Gale up-and-under to give Mike McMeeken an easy try, then Zak Hardaker scored a wonderful solo try. Luke Gale increased the lead with a penalty before Mahe Finua scored for Hull. Gale then added another penalty to make the score 24-10, but in a frenetic finish the Airlie Birds scored 2 converted tries as Cas were glad to hear the hooter with a 24-22 win and some revenge for their Cup exit. Cas then visited Wakefield and seemed out of sorts as they trailed
0-16 at the interval, but 3 converted tries from Greg Eden, Grant Millington and Mike McMeeken gave Cas an
18-16 lead. However a converted David Fifita try and a Liam Flynn appeared to have won it for the Wildcats as they led 24-18 with 10 minutes remaining, but almost immediately Jake Webster powered himself over the line to square the match. With just a minute remaining though Luke Gale kicked a drop goal as Cas won 25-24. Cas didn’t have too much trouble in winning at home to Salford as Greg Eden scored twice, although he looked in agony when scoring the second of those after a mid-air dive in the corner. Joel Monaghan also scored twice, and with single tries from Ben Roberts in the first half and Zak Hardaker in the second half Cas won 38-14. Next up was a visit to Perpignan and Cas started really well with early tries from Jy Hitchcox and Zak Hardaker plus a penalty from Luke Gale establishing a 14-0 lead. But Catalans then scored 3 consecutive tries all converted to lead 18-14 just before the interval when Cas were awarded a penalty in their own half but fairly right of the posts. Zac Hardaker fancied an attempt at goal and duly sent the ball between the posts to cut the deficit it to 2 points. Greg Minikin restored Cas’s lead, but ill-discipline saw substitute Kevin Larroyer shown a yellow card for a perceived squirrel grip tackle and Mike McMeeken also sent to the sin bin for holding down as Cas finished with 11 men. Soon after McMeeken’s dismissal Catalans were awarded a penalty try after Zac Hardaker had appeared to kick a Vincent Duport touchdown in the corner. Cas were now 22-24 behind with only 5 minutes remaining. However another Jy Hitchcox try in the corner and a scrappy try from Paul McShane gave Cas a 32-24 win. Into the Super 8s and became a question of when Cas would land their first ever League Leaders Trophy. However Cas put in a poor display to lose their 100% home record against St Helens as Cas were 0-8 behind at the interval. Adam Milner scored for Cas early in the second halftime, but Cas then imploded to be 6-20 behold, and although Joel Monaghan reduced the arrears, Cas finally lost 12-26. Salford were now in free fall, so Cas had little difficulty in winning there 23-4 with 2 Zak Hardaker tries, and one each from Paul McShane and Jy
Hitchcox. So the stage was set for Cas to win the League title at home to Wakefield before a sell out crowd of 11,235. Wakefield scored first with a penalty and after Zak Hardaker had given Cas a 6-2 lead, but Ben
Jones-Bishop equalised for the Wildcats with a try in the corner. But it didn’t take long for Cas to regain the lead as Mike McMeeken stretched out to score after Paul McShane caused mayhem near the line. Zak Hardaker then with a wonderful run sent Jake Webster through to increase the lead to 18-6. However Mason
Caton-Brown scored for Trinity just before the interval, and when Danny Kirmond scored another soon after the interval Cas’s lead had been cut to 2 points. But Cas then turned on the gas as Jake Webster scored 3 more tries and Zak Hardaker ended proceedings as Cas won 45-20. The ecstatic crowd cheered as each player’s name was called out as they stepped on to the podium. The cheering crowd then reached a crescendo as captain Michael Shenton held aloft the Trophy as the fireworks greeted this gesture, and to the strains of Neil Diamond’s rendition of Sweet Caroline blasted out, many fans joined in the singing.
Nevertheless Cas still had 4 more games to negotiate before the playoffs and away to Huddersfield was to be the first of them. Although Jake Webster continued his amazing scoring streak to put Cas ahead, the Giants hit back to lead 12-6 at halftime. But thereafter tries from Ben Roberts, Greg Eden and Luke Gale settled the match 24-16 as the Giants scored a late consolation try. A crowd of 9,557 were there for the home match against Leeds and despite Leeds scoring first, 2 tries from Ben Roberts and one each from Greg Eden, Jake Webster, Alex Foster and Greg Minikin saw Cas with a comfortable 36-12 lead. The Rhinos scored 2 consolation tries as the final score of 38-24 flattered the visitors. Then came the shock news that Luke Gale had to be rushed to hospital for an appendix operation, and there were justifiable doubts whether
that would be the end of his season. In his place for the away match at Wigan was 18 year old Jake Trueman, and with Ben Roberts also missing from the knock he had suffered against Leeds, Paul McShane was drafted in as his half back partner. Daryl Powell had been insistent that he wanted Cas to keep up the momentum and Greg Eden reiterated that intention with his 38th try of the season. Adam Milner was playing at hooker, a position not foreign to him and he set up the second try for Jake Trueman who then took on the Warriors by storm to score 2 individual tries to record an unbelievable hat trick before halftime as Cas led 20-0. Greg Minikin then scored in the second half as incredibly Cas led 26-0. But then came a Wigan fight back as 3 tries were conceded, but Michael Shenton settled the match and despite another Wigan try Greg Minikin finished the scoring as Cas won 38-20. Daryl Powell then changed his mind for the visit of Hull FC and decided to rest several players including Michael Shenton, Grant Millington, Zak Hardaker, Adam Milner and Nathan Massey, and with Junior Moors still injured and Luke Gale recovering from his appendix operation the halfback pairing was Jake Trueman and Tom Holmes with Tuoyo Egodo making his debut on the wing. In wet conditions Cas were soon 0-16 behind before Egodo scored for Cas, but 2 more tries for Hull gave a halftime score of Cas 6 Hull 28. When Egodo completed his hat trick early in the second half to make the score 16-28 one wondered if Cas were going to make any amazing recovery, but in reality the Airlie Birds had eased off for a while and 3 more tries ended the proceedings as Cas lost 16-48. Luke Gale made a remarkable recovery from his keyhole surgery and took his place for the Playoff Semifinal at home to St Helens. Prior to the match Cas had 6 players selected by journalists in the Dream Team for the season - Greg Eden, Luke Gale, Zak Hardaker, Michael Shenton, Grant Millington and Mike McMeeken, but in truth Paul McShane could so easily have been selected also. Luke Gale was voted Man of Steel with Zak Hardaker runner up. As for the match a towering Zak Hardaker kick in the first minute resulted
in a Cas scrum for a knock on and early field position and a neat one-two between Luke Gale and Jesse Sene-Lefao sent Zak Hardaker for the opening try. A Luke Gale extended th lead to 8-0 before Regan Grace
scored in the corner although Mark Percival missed the conversion. A few minutes before halftime Morgan Knowles scored for Saints and Cas were 8-10 down at the interval. Luke Gale then fired a kick towards Greg Eden and the winger neatly sidestepped Tom Makinson and then passed inside for Luke Gale following up to score and lift up his shirt to the crowd to show his bandaged operation mark. Adam Milner then made a terrific tackle to stop Saints scoring and minutes later with bodies all over him managed to place the ball down between the sticks, and the conversion had given Cas a 20-10 lead with some 16 minutes remaining. With 10 minutes remaining Tom Makinson scored for Saints but another missed conversion from Mark Percival kept Cas 6 points ahead. Three minutes later Percival scored another try but once again missed the conversion so Cas still led 20-18. But when James Roby sent Ryan Morgan over Cas were staring defeat in the face even though Percival again failed to convert. Zak Hardaker then with a brilliant short Kim was caught by Luke Gale but he could make little headway as he tried to kick forward and that seemed that, but
the touch judge noticed an infringement on Michael Shenton and waved furiously to catch the attention of the referee who quite rightly ordered Cas a penalty on the hooter which Luke Gale duly converted to send the match into golden point extra time. Luke Gale missed one drop goal attempt and Matt Smith was smothered out at the other end as his weak effort sailed harmlessly wide. It was the 88th minute before Cas scored the winner as Junior Moors found good field position and as Grant Millington and Adam Milner were both poleaxed as they protected Luke Gale, he sent the drop kick straight between the posts to the delirious delight of most of the 11,235 crowd. It was one of the most amazing finishes to any Super League match as Cas won 23-22 despite scoring only 3 tries to St Helens’ 5. Then in the build up to the Grand Final
came the disturbing news that Zak Hardaker had failed a routine drug test after the earlier win against Leeds and suddenly the odds on Cas winning their first Grand Final had plummeted. What effect it had on the players was open to conjecture, but before a crowd of 72,827 the Theatre of Dreams had become the Theatre of Nightmares as far as Cas were concerned. Technically speaking Cas were still in the match only
0-7 behind at halftime, but Danny McGuire proved far too good over Luke Gale with his kicking game and it wasn’t until the closing minutes that Cas got on the scoreboard with an Alex Foster try as Cas were beaten
6-24. Just to complete the records, Greg Eden just failed to beat Denny Solomona’s record of 42 tries as he absconded to Sale Rugby Union in the close season. Greg Eden finished with 41 tries including Challenge Cup matches. Greg Minikin scored 22, Jake Webster 16, Luke Gale 14, and both Zak Hardaker and Ben Roberts 13. Luke Gale kicked 145 goals and 9 drop goals to bring his total to 355 points, almost a third of all Cas’s 1,071 including Cup matches. Hull FC retained the Challenge Cup as they beat Wigan 18-14 in the Final.
The match started badly for a Cas side without Junior Moors as early as the 4th minute with Cas pressing the Airlie Birds’ line as Carlos Tuiimavave intercepted a wayward pass from Ben Roberts and ran the length of of the field to touch down. Some 8 minutes later Fetuli Talanoa doubled the host’s lead as Greg Minikin had little chance in stopping the Tongan. It’s to Cas’s credit that they managed to score twice to level the scores at 12-12 as first Ben Roberts, then Zak Hardaker taking a fine reverse kick from Luke Gale, scored near the posts. Jake Conor put Hull FC back in the lead with a penalty before halftime and scored and one early in the second half, but Ben Roberts making up for his early error, then scored to put Cas 18-16 in the lead for the first time. However Cas kept on giving penalties away and Conor kicked 2 more to restore Hull’s lead. Hull then pulled away with 2 converted tries leaving Greg Minikin’s late try academic as Cas lost 24-32 their heaviest defeat in the season at that time. As I mentioned earlier though Cas were on a winning streak in the League with 12 consecutive wins and there were 5 more of that dozen still to savour. The first of those 5 was at Headingley as Cas conceded first, but led at halftime after a try from Greg Eden as controversially the referee ruled that Paul McShane had been stripped of the ball, when in fact he had actually dropped the ball, and a penalty from Luke Gale made the score 8-6. Further tries from Zak Hardaker and Grant Millington increased the lead to 20-6. Leeds scored next through Adam Cuthbertson gave the Rhinos some hope, but a penalty and a drop goal eased Cas to a 23-12 win. Next was a home game against Hull FC, and and although Hull scored first, by halftime Cas led 20-4. However it wasn’t as easy as it sounds as Cas had to survive 5 consecutive sets on their own line as Hull made a couple of errors. Luke Gale scored an opportunist try from a Marc Sneyd error, Fetuli Talanoa fumbled a Luke Gale up-and-under to give Mike McMeeken an easy try, then Zak Hardaker scored a wonderful solo try. Luke Gale increased the lead with a penalty before Mahe Finua scored for Hull. Gale then added another penalty to make the score 24-10, but in a frenetic finish the Airlie Birds scored 2 converted tries as Cas were glad to hear the hooter with a 24-22 win and some revenge for their Cup exit. Cas then visited Wakefield and seemed out of sorts as they trailed
0-16 at the interval, but 3 converted tries from Greg Eden, Grant Millington and Mike McMeeken gave Cas an
18-16 lead. However a converted David Fifita try and a Liam Flynn appeared to have won it for the Wildcats as they led 24-18 with 10 minutes remaining, but almost immediately Jake Webster powered himself over the line to square the match. With just a minute remaining though Luke Gale kicked a drop goal as Cas won 25-24. Cas didn’t have too much trouble in winning at home to Salford as Greg Eden scored twice, although he looked in agony when scoring the second of those after a mid-air dive in the corner. Joel Monaghan also scored twice, and with single tries from Ben Roberts in the first half and Zak Hardaker in the second half Cas won 38-14. Next up was a visit to Perpignan and Cas started really well with early tries from Jy Hitchcox and Zak Hardaker plus a penalty from Luke Gale establishing a 14-0 lead. But Catalans then scored 3 consecutive tries all converted to lead 18-14 just before the interval when Cas were awarded a penalty in their own half but fairly right of the posts. Zac Hardaker fancied an attempt at goal and duly sent the ball between the posts to cut the deficit it to 2 points. Greg Minikin restored Cas’s lead, but ill-discipline saw substitute Kevin Larroyer shown a yellow card for a perceived squirrel grip tackle and Mike McMeeken also sent to the sin bin for holding down as Cas finished with 11 men. Soon after McMeeken’s dismissal Catalans were awarded a penalty try after Zac Hardaker had appeared to kick a Vincent Duport touchdown in the corner. Cas were now 22-24 behind with only 5 minutes remaining. However another Jy Hitchcox try in the corner and a scrappy try from Paul McShane gave Cas a 32-24 win. Into the Super 8s and became a question of when Cas would land their first ever League Leaders Trophy. However Cas put in a poor display to lose their 100% home record against St Helens as Cas were 0-8 behind at the interval. Adam Milner scored for Cas early in the second halftime, but Cas then imploded to be 6-20 behold, and although Joel Monaghan reduced the arrears, Cas finally lost 12-26. Salford were now in free fall, so Cas had little difficulty in winning there 23-4 with 2 Zak Hardaker tries, and one each from Paul McShane and Jy
Hitchcox. So the stage was set for Cas to win the League title at home to Wakefield before a sell out crowd of 11,235. Wakefield scored first with a penalty and after Zak Hardaker had given Cas a 6-2 lead, but Ben
Jones-Bishop equalised for the Wildcats with a try in the corner. But it didn’t take long for Cas to regain the lead as Mike McMeeken stretched out to score after Paul McShane caused mayhem near the line. Zak Hardaker then with a wonderful run sent Jake Webster through to increase the lead to 18-6. However Mason
Caton-Brown scored for Trinity just before the interval, and when Danny Kirmond scored another soon after the interval Cas’s lead had been cut to 2 points. But Cas then turned on the gas as Jake Webster scored 3 more tries and Zak Hardaker ended proceedings as Cas won 45-20. The ecstatic crowd cheered as each player’s name was called out as they stepped on to the podium. The cheering crowd then reached a crescendo as captain Michael Shenton held aloft the Trophy as the fireworks greeted this gesture, and to the strains of Neil Diamond’s rendition of Sweet Caroline blasted out, many fans joined in the singing.
Nevertheless Cas still had 4 more games to negotiate before the playoffs and away to Huddersfield was to be the first of them. Although Jake Webster continued his amazing scoring streak to put Cas ahead, the Giants hit back to lead 12-6 at halftime. But thereafter tries from Ben Roberts, Greg Eden and Luke Gale settled the match 24-16 as the Giants scored a late consolation try. A crowd of 9,557 were there for the home match against Leeds and despite Leeds scoring first, 2 tries from Ben Roberts and one each from Greg Eden, Jake Webster, Alex Foster and Greg Minikin saw Cas with a comfortable 36-12 lead. The Rhinos scored 2 consolation tries as the final score of 38-24 flattered the visitors. Then came the shock news that Luke Gale had to be rushed to hospital for an appendix operation, and there were justifiable doubts whether
that would be the end of his season. In his place for the away match at Wigan was 18 year old Jake Trueman, and with Ben Roberts also missing from the knock he had suffered against Leeds, Paul McShane was drafted in as his half back partner. Daryl Powell had been insistent that he wanted Cas to keep up the momentum and Greg Eden reiterated that intention with his 38th try of the season. Adam Milner was playing at hooker, a position not foreign to him and he set up the second try for Jake Trueman who then took on the Warriors by storm to score 2 individual tries to record an unbelievable hat trick before halftime as Cas led 20-0. Greg Minikin then scored in the second half as incredibly Cas led 26-0. But then came a Wigan fight back as 3 tries were conceded, but Michael Shenton settled the match and despite another Wigan try Greg Minikin finished the scoring as Cas won 38-20. Daryl Powell then changed his mind for the visit of Hull FC and decided to rest several players including Michael Shenton, Grant Millington, Zak Hardaker, Adam Milner and Nathan Massey, and with Junior Moors still injured and Luke Gale recovering from his appendix operation the halfback pairing was Jake Trueman and Tom Holmes with Tuoyo Egodo making his debut on the wing. In wet conditions Cas were soon 0-16 behind before Egodo scored for Cas, but 2 more tries for Hull gave a halftime score of Cas 6 Hull 28. When Egodo completed his hat trick early in the second half to make the score 16-28 one wondered if Cas were going to make any amazing recovery, but in reality the Airlie Birds had eased off for a while and 3 more tries ended the proceedings as Cas lost 16-48. Luke Gale made a remarkable recovery from his keyhole surgery and took his place for the Playoff Semifinal at home to St Helens. Prior to the match Cas had 6 players selected by journalists in the Dream Team for the season - Greg Eden, Luke Gale, Zak Hardaker, Michael Shenton, Grant Millington and Mike McMeeken, but in truth Paul McShane could so easily have been selected also. Luke Gale was voted Man of Steel with Zak Hardaker runner up. As for the match a towering Zak Hardaker kick in the first minute resulted
in a Cas scrum for a knock on and early field position and a neat one-two between Luke Gale and Jesse Sene-Lefao sent Zak Hardaker for the opening try. A Luke Gale extended th lead to 8-0 before Regan Grace
scored in the corner although Mark Percival missed the conversion. A few minutes before halftime Morgan Knowles scored for Saints and Cas were 8-10 down at the interval. Luke Gale then fired a kick towards Greg Eden and the winger neatly sidestepped Tom Makinson and then passed inside for Luke Gale following up to score and lift up his shirt to the crowd to show his bandaged operation mark. Adam Milner then made a terrific tackle to stop Saints scoring and minutes later with bodies all over him managed to place the ball down between the sticks, and the conversion had given Cas a 20-10 lead with some 16 minutes remaining. With 10 minutes remaining Tom Makinson scored for Saints but another missed conversion from Mark Percival kept Cas 6 points ahead. Three minutes later Percival scored another try but once again missed the conversion so Cas still led 20-18. But when James Roby sent Ryan Morgan over Cas were staring defeat in the face even though Percival again failed to convert. Zak Hardaker then with a brilliant short Kim was caught by Luke Gale but he could make little headway as he tried to kick forward and that seemed that, but
the touch judge noticed an infringement on Michael Shenton and waved furiously to catch the attention of the referee who quite rightly ordered Cas a penalty on the hooter which Luke Gale duly converted to send the match into golden point extra time. Luke Gale missed one drop goal attempt and Matt Smith was smothered out at the other end as his weak effort sailed harmlessly wide. It was the 88th minute before Cas scored the winner as Junior Moors found good field position and as Grant Millington and Adam Milner were both poleaxed as they protected Luke Gale, he sent the drop kick straight between the posts to the delirious delight of most of the 11,235 crowd. It was one of the most amazing finishes to any Super League match as Cas won 23-22 despite scoring only 3 tries to St Helens’ 5. Then in the build up to the Grand Final
came the disturbing news that Zak Hardaker had failed a routine drug test after the earlier win against Leeds and suddenly the odds on Cas winning their first Grand Final had plummeted. What effect it had on the players was open to conjecture, but before a crowd of 72,827 the Theatre of Dreams had become the Theatre of Nightmares as far as Cas were concerned. Technically speaking Cas were still in the match only
0-7 behind at halftime, but Danny McGuire proved far too good over Luke Gale with his kicking game and it wasn’t until the closing minutes that Cas got on the scoreboard with an Alex Foster try as Cas were beaten
6-24. Just to complete the records, Greg Eden just failed to beat Denny Solomona’s record of 42 tries as he absconded to Sale Rugby Union in the close season. Greg Eden finished with 41 tries including Challenge Cup matches. Greg Minikin scored 22, Jake Webster 16, Luke Gale 14, and both Zak Hardaker and Ben Roberts 13. Luke Gale kicked 145 goals and 9 drop goals to bring his total to 355 points, almost a third of all Cas’s 1,071 including Cup matches. Hull FC retained the Challenge Cup as they beat Wigan 18-14 in the Final.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Several slight errors as it took 7 hours to research and compose today’s blog and missed the following errors:-
Line 7 delete one ‘of’
Line 11 delete ‘and’
Line 21 delete one of the word ‘and’
Line 30 should read ‘Liam Flynn penalty’
Line 39 ‘Zac’ should read ‘Zak’
Line 45 Should read ‘it became a question’
Line 84 Should read ‘another amazing recovery’ not ‘any amazing recovery’
Line 102 should read ‘kick’ not ‘Kim’
Line 7 delete one ‘of’
Line 11 delete ‘and’
Line 21 delete one of the word ‘and’
Line 30 should read ‘Liam Flynn penalty’
Line 39 ‘Zac’ should read ‘Zak’
Line 45 Should read ‘it became a question’
Line 84 Should read ‘another amazing recovery’ not ‘any amazing recovery’
Line 102 should read ‘kick’ not ‘Kim’
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
One hoped that season 2018 known as Super League XXllI would follow on from where the previous season ended, but Cas to start at St Helens hoping to break their abysmal record there in Super League, but it was not to be as Cas suffered a terrible beating 6-46 and when they struggled to beat Widnes 13-12 at home, one feared that a top 8 place might be a struggle. But in fact Cas then went on a 5 match unbeaten run. First a crowd of 9,365 watched Cas beat the Challenge Cup holders Hull FC at home 28-18 with Michael Shenton scoring a couple of tries and then beat Salford also at home 22-8. The next match was creating a lot of publicity as Headingley was under renovation and the match against Leeds Rhinos was therefore to be played at Elland Road with the prospect of breaking an attendance record for Super League. In fact a magnificent crowd of 23,246 watched a thrilling match as Cas went into a 24-0 lead with first half tries from Greg Ellis, James Clare, Alex Foster and Junior Moors before the Rhinos made a stunning recovery as
Cas hung on to win 25-24. Cas then won 11-6 at Wakefield before the watershed match at home to Warrington spoilt that unbeaten run. Quite frankly if the game had not been scheduled to be shown on Sky, it surely would have been postponed as one corner of the ground was deep in water as Cas slithered to a
6-18 defeat. Nevertheless undaunted Cas scored 81 points in their next 2 matches, 40-28 at Huddersfield with Alex Foster scoring 2 of Cas’s 7 tries and 41-0 at home to Catalans with both Paul McShane and Oliver Holmes each scoring a brace. At Wigan Cas were holding their own 12-12 at halftime but buckled somewhat in the second half to lose 12-28, but then beat Wakefield 24-4 at home in their next match. Cas were then well beaten 18-36 at home to St Helens in the Challenge Cup. At the Magic Weekend fixture against Leeds Cas easily won 38-10, but then again lost at home to St Helens in the League 18-40. Cas then won their next 2 away matches 42-14 at Craven Park against Hull KR and 34-30 at Warrington, but were then disappointingly held at home to Hull KR 24-24. However they bounced back by beating Wigan 19-18 at home before travelling to Perpignan where they were no match for Catalans as they lost 16-44. Next up was a home game with Leeds and before a crowd of 9,557 Cas again beat the Rhinos 42-10. Cas then won
24-6 at Salford before surprisingly losing at home to Huddersfield 18-32, but went into the Super 8s after a resounding 52-24 win at Widnes. Cas started tentatively in the Super 8s with a 22-24 defeat at Wigan, but 5 successive wins guaranteed them a playoff place. Cas avenged the home water splash defeat to Warrington earlier in the season by winning 28-8, beat Catalans at home 36-4, won at the free falling Hull
28-8, avenged the recent home defeat to Huddersfield by this time winning 44-12, and once against beat Wakefield 42-10. The only blot on their copybook was losing again at St Helens 0-26, but nevertheless finishing 3rd with 41 points from 30 matches was a fine achieved considering their long injury list. However the big worrying aspect was Cas’s inability to beat the top teams away from home, and in this particular season unable to score against them as they lost 0-14 at Wigan in the Playoff Semifinal. Warrington surprisingly won at St Helens in the other Playoff Semifinal, but Wigan beat the Wolves 12-4 in the Grand Final, however Cas were the best team in Yorkshire at least. In the Challenge Cup, not only did Catalans cause an upset in the Semifinal by beating St Helens, but repeated the dose by beating Warrington also in the Final 20-14.
Cas hung on to win 25-24. Cas then won 11-6 at Wakefield before the watershed match at home to Warrington spoilt that unbeaten run. Quite frankly if the game had not been scheduled to be shown on Sky, it surely would have been postponed as one corner of the ground was deep in water as Cas slithered to a
6-18 defeat. Nevertheless undaunted Cas scored 81 points in their next 2 matches, 40-28 at Huddersfield with Alex Foster scoring 2 of Cas’s 7 tries and 41-0 at home to Catalans with both Paul McShane and Oliver Holmes each scoring a brace. At Wigan Cas were holding their own 12-12 at halftime but buckled somewhat in the second half to lose 12-28, but then beat Wakefield 24-4 at home in their next match. Cas were then well beaten 18-36 at home to St Helens in the Challenge Cup. At the Magic Weekend fixture against Leeds Cas easily won 38-10, but then again lost at home to St Helens in the League 18-40. Cas then won their next 2 away matches 42-14 at Craven Park against Hull KR and 34-30 at Warrington, but were then disappointingly held at home to Hull KR 24-24. However they bounced back by beating Wigan 19-18 at home before travelling to Perpignan where they were no match for Catalans as they lost 16-44. Next up was a home game with Leeds and before a crowd of 9,557 Cas again beat the Rhinos 42-10. Cas then won
24-6 at Salford before surprisingly losing at home to Huddersfield 18-32, but went into the Super 8s after a resounding 52-24 win at Widnes. Cas started tentatively in the Super 8s with a 22-24 defeat at Wigan, but 5 successive wins guaranteed them a playoff place. Cas avenged the home water splash defeat to Warrington earlier in the season by winning 28-8, beat Catalans at home 36-4, won at the free falling Hull
28-8, avenged the recent home defeat to Huddersfield by this time winning 44-12, and once against beat Wakefield 42-10. The only blot on their copybook was losing again at St Helens 0-26, but nevertheless finishing 3rd with 41 points from 30 matches was a fine achieved considering their long injury list. However the big worrying aspect was Cas’s inability to beat the top teams away from home, and in this particular season unable to score against them as they lost 0-14 at Wigan in the Playoff Semifinal. Warrington surprisingly won at St Helens in the other Playoff Semifinal, but Wigan beat the Wolves 12-4 in the Grand Final, however Cas were the best team in Yorkshire at least. In the Challenge Cup, not only did Catalans cause an upset in the Semifinal by beating St Helens, but repeated the dose by beating Warrington also in the Final 20-14.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Just to tidy up with a couple of errors:-
Line 2 should read ‘Cas had to start at St Helens’
Line 11 should read ‘water splash’ not watershed’
Line 30 should read ‘fine achievement’ not ‘fine achieved’
Line 2 should read ‘Cas had to start at St Helens’
Line 11 should read ‘water splash’ not watershed’
Line 30 should read ‘fine achievement’ not ‘fine achieved’
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
For last season Super League XXlV the Middle Super 8 and Middle 8 system was abolished as being unpopular, and Widnes didn’t make the Playoff and were relegated. The Playoff was contested instead by 2 National League clubs and London Broncos returned to Super League after a 4 year absence by beating the first Canadian club to join Rugby League Toronto Wolfpack in the Middle 8 Competition. The number of matches were thus reduced to 29 games each and would revert to a top 5 playoff system last employed in 2014. Cas started the season rather well by winning their first 4 matches beginning with a 20-4 home win over Catalans, a 26-18 win at the continually free falling Hull, a 40-6 win away to the newly promoted London Broncos, and a 32-16 home win over Hull KR. Cas had been functional if not inspiring in those opening fixtures and equally so in their next 4 matches, a 10-24 defeat at Warrington, a scrambled 24-20 home win against Salford, a 12-42 home defeat to St Helens, and what would have been a draw at Leeds except for the ridiculous system of drawn matches going into overtime to determine a winner as Cas lost
20-21 their first League defeat to the Rhinos in 11 matches. Cas were fairly poor for the first 25 minutes in their 9th match at home to Wigan as they trailed 0-20, but then came a remarkable recovery as Cas scored 7 tries through Oliver Holmes, Calum Turner, Mitch Clark, Matt Cook, Adam Milner, Tuoao Egodo and Pete Mata’utia to win 38-28. Cas then lost 18-20 at Huddersfield, beat Wakefield at home 28-26 before a season’s high of 9,316 spectators, but then lost their next 3 matches in France to Catalans 16-37, a dour match at Wigan 4-6 which conceivably they should have won against a poor Wigan side on the night, and then 14-26 at home to Warrington. The Challenge Cup didn’t provide much joy as Cas lost 12-28 away to a rejuvenated Hull 12-28. Cas then showed a bit of form to win at Leeds 30-8 but then lost 16-36 against St Helens at Anfield in the Magic Weekend. For once the golden point worked in favour of Cas as they beat Huddersfield 27-26 at home, but then lost their next 2 matches 18-31 at home to Hull FC and 16-26 away to Salford. It now seemed a win one/lose one scenario as Cas beat London Broncos 42-10 at home but lost at home to Leeds 10-18. Cas for the 13th time in succession beat Wakefield 36-16 and followed that up with a 27-18 home win over Warrington but then lost 26-27 away to Hull KR. An unimpressive 20-6 home win against London Broncos was followed by a 24-0 win at Huddersfield, and following St Helens 4-18 defeat against Warrington in the Challenge Cup Final, had every chance of beating a tired Saints side 6 days later,
but another poor display resulted in a 0-4 defeat. Cas performed much better in effectively what was a playoff game for a place in the top 5 by beating Hull FC at home 44-12. Cas lost their final League game 8-26 at Wigan but had to wait 24 hours in the hope that the Airlie Birds would lose to St Helens which they did, and thus Cas sneaked into 5th place with a mere 30 points from their 29 matches although only 6 points behind a Wigan side who had won their last 7 matches to become runners up to St Helens albeit 16 points behind a Saints side that had dominated Super League in much the same fashion as Cas had done 2 years earlier. Cas then surprised Warrington by beating them 14-12 away in the Elimination Final, but then lost
0-22 to surprise packet Salford in Qualifying Semifinal. Salford had won their last 8 League matches and subsequently beat Wigan 28-4 to reach the Grand Final which they lost 6-23 to St Helens. London Broncos were relegated after the one season but only on points difference over Hull KR as Toronto Wolfpack took their place after beating a plucky Featherstone Rovers in the National League Playoff Final.
20-21 their first League defeat to the Rhinos in 11 matches. Cas were fairly poor for the first 25 minutes in their 9th match at home to Wigan as they trailed 0-20, but then came a remarkable recovery as Cas scored 7 tries through Oliver Holmes, Calum Turner, Mitch Clark, Matt Cook, Adam Milner, Tuoao Egodo and Pete Mata’utia to win 38-28. Cas then lost 18-20 at Huddersfield, beat Wakefield at home 28-26 before a season’s high of 9,316 spectators, but then lost their next 3 matches in France to Catalans 16-37, a dour match at Wigan 4-6 which conceivably they should have won against a poor Wigan side on the night, and then 14-26 at home to Warrington. The Challenge Cup didn’t provide much joy as Cas lost 12-28 away to a rejuvenated Hull 12-28. Cas then showed a bit of form to win at Leeds 30-8 but then lost 16-36 against St Helens at Anfield in the Magic Weekend. For once the golden point worked in favour of Cas as they beat Huddersfield 27-26 at home, but then lost their next 2 matches 18-31 at home to Hull FC and 16-26 away to Salford. It now seemed a win one/lose one scenario as Cas beat London Broncos 42-10 at home but lost at home to Leeds 10-18. Cas for the 13th time in succession beat Wakefield 36-16 and followed that up with a 27-18 home win over Warrington but then lost 26-27 away to Hull KR. An unimpressive 20-6 home win against London Broncos was followed by a 24-0 win at Huddersfield, and following St Helens 4-18 defeat against Warrington in the Challenge Cup Final, had every chance of beating a tired Saints side 6 days later,
but another poor display resulted in a 0-4 defeat. Cas performed much better in effectively what was a playoff game for a place in the top 5 by beating Hull FC at home 44-12. Cas lost their final League game 8-26 at Wigan but had to wait 24 hours in the hope that the Airlie Birds would lose to St Helens which they did, and thus Cas sneaked into 5th place with a mere 30 points from their 29 matches although only 6 points behind a Wigan side who had won their last 7 matches to become runners up to St Helens albeit 16 points behind a Saints side that had dominated Super League in much the same fashion as Cas had done 2 years earlier. Cas then surprised Warrington by beating them 14-12 away in the Elimination Final, but then lost
0-22 to surprise packet Salford in Qualifying Semifinal. Salford had won their last 8 League matches and subsequently beat Wigan 28-4 to reach the Grand Final which they lost 6-23 to St Helens. London Broncos were relegated after the one season but only on points difference over Hull KR as Toronto Wolfpack took their place after beating a plucky Featherstone Rovers in the National League Playoff Final.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
So we’re up to the current season, 7 matches played, but know when or if Super League XXV will continue. At the moment Cas are 2nd in the table equal on points with Wigan. The season started with an ‘away’ fixture played against Toronto Wolfpack at Headingley before an approximate crowd of 19,500 as part of a double header with Leeds v Hull FC. Cas didn’t start too well going behind as early as the 4th minute, but once Greg Eden scored there was no looking back as Grant Millington, Adam Milner and Michael Shenton added further tries to give Cas a 22-4 lead at the interval. A further try from Peter Mata’utia sealed victory although Toronto scored a consolation try as Cas started the season with 28-10 win. Five days later Cas entertained Wigan Warriors and Derrell Olpherts gave Cas the lead before a crowd of 8,848. Cheyse Blair added a second before Wigan opened their account near the interval, but Danny Richardson kicked a penalty to give Cas a 12-6 halftime lead. Two further penalties from Richardson gave Cas a 16-6 lead and the Warriors converted try in the closing minute was a mere consolation as Cas won 16-12. A visit to Perpignan came next but Cas were soundly beaten 18-36 and never really in contention as they were 0-10 behind before the 10 minute mark. The local derby at home to Wakefield saw Cas 0-8 behind after 10 minutes, and despite first half tries from Cheyse Blair, Derrell Olpherts and James Clare were still behind
14-15 at halftime. However further tries from Clare, Oliver Holmes on his 200th appearance Blair saw Cas home 32-15. Again Cas conceded first away to Hull KR, and although a Michael Shenton try brought the scores level, the Robins regained the lead with a penalty on the hooter. However Cas ran riot in the second half with further tries from Danny Richardson, James Clare and Mike McMeeken plus a total of 6 goals from Richardson gave Cas an easy 28-8 win. Cas scored first at Warrington with a Danny Richardson penalty but were 2-4 down at halftime and 2-6 down within 12 minutes of the second half. Michael Shenton gave a superb pass to Calum Turner to score in the corner, and despite putting a foot in touch was awarded a penalty try to give Cas an 8-6 lead. A Stefan Ratchford penalty with 20 minutes remaining brought the scores level. With time running out the two teams missed 5 drop kicks between them until unfortunately Blake Austin scored a drop goal for the Wolves as Cas lost 8-9. The final match to be played in Super League so far this season was Cas entertaining St Helens on Sunday the 15th March and before a crowd of 7,268 Cas drew first blood with a Peter Mata’utia try. A brace of Derrell Olpherts tries had Cas leading 14-4 at the interval. A Cheyse Blair try extended the lead to 18-4. A couple of Danny Richardson penalties extended Cas’s lead to 22-4, and although Saints pulled it back to 22-8, a Jake Trueman try converted by Danny Richardson and a late St Helens consolation try gave Cas a 28-14 win.
14-15 at halftime. However further tries from Clare, Oliver Holmes on his 200th appearance Blair saw Cas home 32-15. Again Cas conceded first away to Hull KR, and although a Michael Shenton try brought the scores level, the Robins regained the lead with a penalty on the hooter. However Cas ran riot in the second half with further tries from Danny Richardson, James Clare and Mike McMeeken plus a total of 6 goals from Richardson gave Cas an easy 28-8 win. Cas scored first at Warrington with a Danny Richardson penalty but were 2-4 down at halftime and 2-6 down within 12 minutes of the second half. Michael Shenton gave a superb pass to Calum Turner to score in the corner, and despite putting a foot in touch was awarded a penalty try to give Cas an 8-6 lead. A Stefan Ratchford penalty with 20 minutes remaining brought the scores level. With time running out the two teams missed 5 drop kicks between them until unfortunately Blake Austin scored a drop goal for the Wolves as Cas lost 8-9. The final match to be played in Super League so far this season was Cas entertaining St Helens on Sunday the 15th March and before a crowd of 7,268 Cas drew first blood with a Peter Mata’utia try. A brace of Derrell Olpherts tries had Cas leading 14-4 at the interval. A Cheyse Blair try extended the lead to 18-4. A couple of Danny Richardson penalties extended Cas’s lead to 22-4, and although Saints pulled it back to 22-8, a Jake Trueman try converted by Danny Richardson and a late St Helens consolation try gave Cas a 28-14 win.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
That’s it folks, the History of Rugby League in Castleford from 1926 until the current season. As some of you may know I was born in Redcar and still live there, and became fascinated with Rugby League in 1965 through relatives of my late wife’s family the Stentons whose son Ian played for them from the mid 60s to the early 70s. It has taken a lot of research through various sources to get here including sifting through Rothmans Rugby League Year Books especially for League Tables in the formative years, John Player Year Books, Rugby League Annual Reviews, British Coal Year Books and more recently Castleford Tigers Results 1926/2012, The Ninety Years Statistical Record 1926/2016, and Cas Tigers, the Breakthrough Year. Despite teething problems when posting on All Things Tiger I’ve enjoyed reliving the history of this great club even when they were the whipped boys of Rugby League certainly in the years just after the Second World War. I hope it has given you that like to reminisce about the better years as much pleasure as it has given me writing about them. If anybody has questions to ask about results, dates, etc I’ll be glad to answer them, if able to do so. At 82 years old I’m no longer able to watch Classy Cas now except on Sky Sports, but attended many matches before the Super League era especially when most home League matches were played on Friday nights often driving straight from Middlesbrough where I worked. I’ve been to all Cas’s post war Challenge Cup Finals, driven through snow drifts to Wheldon Road for occasional Cup matches, and to far away places like Swinton, Workington and Humberside just to see the likes of Chuck, Heppy, Mal Reilly
and big Bill Bryant. I’m going to post a Roll of Honour of Castleford’s achievements in the next few days as there have been many, so look out for that. In the meantime keep safe through this coronavirus pandemic and hope sometime you’ll be able to congregate at the Jungle to see your mates and sing Sweet Caroline.
and big Bill Bryant. I’m going to post a Roll of Honour of Castleford’s achievements in the next few days as there have been many, so look out for that. In the meantime keep safe through this coronavirus pandemic and hope sometime you’ll be able to congregate at the Jungle to see your mates and sing Sweet Caroline.
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Ken, I think I post for all who’ve read your posts on our great clubs history... thanks and well done Sir. Hopefully, when time allows, I’ll be able to be you a pint in The Boot Room to talk more in depth on this fantastic subject matter 
Re: History of Rugby League in Castleford
Thanks for all your dedication and hard work Ken. Very much appreciated brought back a lot of things I've forgotten.
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