Castleford 43-26 Catalans: Tigers reclaim top spot

Match stats

Casteflord tries:  Hardaker (13), Millington (25), Monaghan (31), Eden (36, 66), Moors (45), Shenton (58)
Penalties/Conversions:  Gale (13, 25, 31, 45, 54, 58, 66)
Drop goals:  Gale (63) 

Catalans tries:  Thornley (2), Myler (7), Anderson (41), Duport (72)
Penalties/Conversions:  Walsh (2, 7, 10, 41, 72) 

Match report

Castleford came from 14-0 down to thrash 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 after allowing their visitors to run in two tries in the first 10 minutes but they responded in trademark fashion with a series of well-worked tries to return to winning ways in emphatic fashion.

Winger Greg Eden led the way with two tries, taking his total for the season to 10 to go in front of injured team-mate Greg Minikin at the top of the Super League chart.

The Dragons faded badly after their promising start and have now gone four matches without a win to remain in the bottom four.

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The Catalans lost full-back Thomas Bosc to injury and second rower Justin Horo to illness 24 hours before kick-off but were able to boast an imposing pack containing four specialist props and they made a dream start to the match.

A handling error from Castleford stand-off Ben Roberts deep inside his own half gave the visitors the ideal position to launch their first serious attack and it produced a third-minute try in the corner for winger Iain Thornley.

Seven minutes later smart work from hooker Paul Aiton close to the line got scrum-half Richie Myler over and Luke Walsh kicked a second conversion before adding a penalty to stretch his side's lead to 14-0.

There was no hint of panic, however, and Castleford demonstrated their attacking threat on their first serious foray into Dragons territory when full-back Zak Hardaker went over direct from a scrum heel for the first of their seven tries.

The Tigers looked more potent when imposing forward Junior Moors was introduced from the bench and it was from one of his superb offloads that second rower Grant Millington went over for their second try.

Luke Gale added both conversions to bring his team to within two points and kept the momentum going with a 40-20 kick.

The Catalans were placed on a team warning and their defence cracked twice more in the last three minutes of the first half.

Centre Jake Webster's strong surge enabled right winger Joel Monaghan to finish acrobatically for his first try of the season and Eden touched down Roberts' kick for his ninth after Castleford had won a rare scrum against the feed.

At 22-14, the game had been turned on its head and, although the Dragons scored first in the second half through substitute forward Louis Anderson, it was largely one-way traffic.

Moors strolled through the visitors' defence in alarmingly comfortable fashion in the 46th minute and skipper Michael Shenton took a return pass from Eden to finish off a glorious move from deep inside his own half.

Gale 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.

Match reaction

Castleford coach Daryl Powell on his side and the club's under-19 outfit: "I went to see the under-19s before and they're top of the table as well.

"For us as a club it's awesome that we're doing really well across the board. We should be seen as a progressive club. What I saw from the under-19s was as pleasing as us winning today.

"I think there were some outstanding things in our game. Obviously to be 14-0 down, you are under pressure. We had to score next and I thought we always looked dangerous when we had the ball, but we were a bit leaky in defence, which is one disappointing element.

"The Catalans are a big physical team and to get away to a start like that it gave them a real foothold in the game. So I was pleased we managed a response.

"At times we look unbelievably difficult to hold, so there are lots of positives for us. Overall we needed to win the game and it gets us back into a good position."

On Junior Moors: "Junior has been outstanding for us. Every time he has come off the bench, he has been phenomenal and he was good again today."

Laurent Frayssinous on his side's defeat: "We made a great start with the ball, but obviously our defence was not good enough.

"We imposed a lot of early pressure and scored some tries, but, on the back of that, we couldn't defend and it's frustrating to concede so many points."