Castleford 52-16 Huddersfield: Tigers keep top spot

Match stats

Castleford tries: Roberts (19), Webster (22), McMeeken (27), Gale (41,53,57), Milner (43), Monaghan (56,63,77)
Conversions/penalties: Gale (19,27,43,53,57,77)

Huddersfield tries: Hinchcliffe (7), Brierley (49), Gaskell (67)
Conversions/penalties: Brierley (49,67) 

Match report

Luke Gale brought up a century of tries with a second-half hat-trick as Castleford strengthened their grip on top spot in Super League with a 52-16 demolition of struggling Huddersfield.

The England half-back has been integral to the Tigers' impressive start to the season and he continued his fine form with a 24-point haul on his 250th career appearance.

Joel Monaghan also helped himself to a treble while Ben Roberts, Jake Webster, Mike McMeeken and Adam Milner all crossed to inflict more misery on a Giants side without talisman Danny Brough.

Huddersfield had taken an early lead at the Jungle through Ryan Hinchcliffe but they could only respond through tries from Ryan Brierley and Lee Gaskell as Castleford racked up 36 points after the break.

The Giants are now five matches without a win and appear set for another season battling against relegation.

Castleford made a slow start against Catalans last time out and Huddersfield made the Tigers chase the game again as Hinchcliffe touched down inside seven minutes.

Prop Sebastine Ikahihifo had led the Giants' fight from the first carry of the match and it was his offload close to the line that allowed Hinchcliffe to twist and turn his way over.

Super League's top try-scorer Greg Eden failed to take in Gale's long pass as Castleford initially struggled for fluency in attack, but they soon hit their stride.

Roberts touched down Gale's grubber kick to get the Tigers on the board and then turned provider to put Webster over out wide after Gaskell had sent the restart out on the full.

Huddersfield have leaked the most points in the competition in 2017 and their defensive frailties were there for all to see when McMeeken crashed over on the last tackle.

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Some poor finishing from the usually reliable Eden meant the Giants were only 16-4 down at the break but the Castleford winger underlined his quality in the opening minute of the second half by racing clear from deep and giving Gale a simple finish.

It was a case of damage limitation for Huddersfield after Milner broke through the middle of the Giants defence and dummied his way to the line.

Gale's third successful conversion made it 26 unanswered points for the Tigers but Brierley gave the small band of travelling supporters something to cheer when he outpaced Zak Hardaker after breaking from a scrum deep inside his own half.

It proved to be only brief respite for Huddersfield as Webster stepped back inside to give Gale his 100th career try and then put Monaghan over in the corner.

Gale was on hand to support Paul McShane and complete his treble before Rangi Chase went through the full range of tricks to give Monaghan his second try.

Gaskell benefited from sloppy play by Castleford to finish Brierley's low kick but Gale fittingly had the last word with a touchline conversion after Monaghan had touched down Chase's low kick for his hat-trick.

Match reaction

Daryl Powell on Castleford's win: "It was a mixed bag - there was an unbelievable amount of quality skill mixed in with a lot of errors," said Powell."The players and coaching staff are a little bit frustrated so we've got some things to improve on.

"I think sometimes scoring a lot of points is an issue for us because we're looking for them before we do the work that's needed to get them.

"We've talked about respecting the ball a fair bit more. At times in the second half we were still a little bit loose.

"We want to improve on that significantly in terms of a bit more of a tidier game.

"But there are so many quality players in the team that we're a real threat when we've got the ball in our hands.

"It was a complete mix tonight. It was hard to watch at times but at other times you just sit back and say, 'Wow'.

"We've had an outstanding start to the season and are happy with where we are.

"We've got some tough challenges coming up. We play Wigan next week and they'll be fired up after losing a couple of games.

"We're going to need to be a lot tidier." 

Huddersfield coach Rick Stone on falling to defeat: "It was a good old-fashioned hiding.

"They're a good footy team with power and pace and I know we're down on a few troops but that was unacceptable as far as our attitude and resolve defensively.

"They gave us a lesson basically. They challenged us and we didn't handle the pace of the game.

"We're not the first team to come here and get our bums smacked and I doubt we'll be the last.

"We've got a lot of improvement to do. Hopefully we can get a few blokes back to help us."We've got a big job to get ourselves out of where we are."