Dragons beaten at Castleford


 
 

Castleford Tigers (22) 43

: Zak Hardaker, Grant Millington, Joel Monaghan, Greg Eden 2, Junior Moors, Michael Shenton
: Luke Gale 7
DG : Luke Gale

Catalans Dragons (14) 26
: Iain Thornley, Richie Myler, Louis Anderson, Vincent Duport
: Luke Walsh 5
DG :

 

Castleford Tigers came from 14-0 down to overcome Catalans Dragons 43-26 and reclaim top spot in the Betfred Super League.

The Tigers appeared to be suffering from a hangover from their surprise 13-12 defeat at Salford Red Devils after allowing their visitors to run in tries from Iain Thornley and Richie Myler in the first 10 minutes, with Luke Walsh converting both and adding a penalty.

But Zak Hardaker went over direct from a scrum heel for the first of Castleford's seven tries, with Grant Millington, an acrobatic Joel Monaghan and Greg Eden all crossing the whitewash to turn the match on its head as the hosts went in at half-time 22-14 ahead.

The Dragons scored first in the second half through substitute forward Louis Anderson, but it was largely one-way traffic thereafter, with Junior Moors strolling through the visitors' defence in alarmingly comfortable fashion before Michael Shenton finished off a glorious move.

Luke Gale, who finished the game with a 15-point haul, slotted a drop goal to keep the scoreboard ticking over until Eden jinked his way over for his second try and, leading 43-20, it was the signal for coach Daryl Powell to re-introduce Rangi Chase for his first game back since serving a suspension for a breach of discipline.

Catalans finished a well-beaten team but they had the consolation of scoring the final try through winger Vincent Duport on his 150th appearance, with Walsh taking his goal tally to five from five attempts.

 

 

Team sheet

Castleford : Hardaker, Monaghan, Webster, Shenton, Eden, Roberts, Gale, Lynch, Mc Shane, Massey, Millington, MC Meeken, Milner
Subs: Moors, Cook, Sene-Lefao, Chase

Dragons : Wiliame, Yaha, Inu, Duport, Thornley, Walsh, Myler, Moa, Aiton, Casty, Bousquet, Garcia, Burgess
Subs: Anderson, Baitieri, Da Costa, Margalet