Tigers lose out in Shenton testimonial

A crowd of 3,346 turned up to the Mend-A-Hose Jungle to support the club captain and recognise his fantastic service to his hometown club but the Betfred Super League newcomers spoiled the party in a cold and scrappy affair.

Toronto had the better of the early play with an error from the kick-off and then a penalty giving the Canadian side the field position to open proceedings through Gareth O’Brien try after four minutes.

Cas responded well with a nice break from Jake Trueman through midfield and then a well-weighted kick into the in-goal from Danny Richardson to force a drop out. From there, the Tigers pounced as new forward George Griffin set the platform by poking his nose through the defence and from there Paul McShane ran a lovely double run-around play involving Grant Millington and Jesse Sene-Lefao before putting Richardson through the gap. The scrum half converted his own score to level the scores at 6-6.

The afternoon’s main man Shenton laid the foundation for his side’s next attack with a huge hit on O’Brien to force an error from the Toronto full back, but Nathan Massey couldn’t quite capitalise on the next set as he knocked on reaching for the line, whilst Shenton himself was stopped by an excellent try-saving tackle shortly afterwards after hitting Trueman’s short pass at pace.

The collision forced Shenton from the field just after the half-hour mark as precaution for a head knock, James Clare on his place at centre as head coach Daryl Powell was forced to reshuffle his backline, and in the end the two teams entered half-time all square after a decent but somewhat error-strewn first 40.

Both sides continued in much the same fashion after the break, Toronto with the stronger start but unable to break through a hard-working Tigers defence whilst errors continued to prevent either side gaining any real momentum.

In the end, it was Cas who scored the half’s first try with three new signings all combining for a lovely score. Tyla Hepi started it with a half break and wonderful offload to send the supporting Richardson racing clear and he in turn found Sosaia Feki out wide for the finish, but the lead was shortlived as Joe Mellow went over next to the posts shortly afterwards.

In response, Griffin was denied a try for a double movement after bumping off the initial defender on a blindside move close to the line but the Fords were struggling for fluency and were further punished when Blake Wallace finished a long-range move for the visitors to stretch the advantage to 16-10 with eight minutes remaining.

As the Tigers looked for a late leveller, Toronto’s Hakim Miloudi was sin binned for a high shot on young forward Lewis Peachey but McShane knocked on with the line at his mercy after another run-around created space on the resulting set leaving the Wolfpack to run down the clock.

Full Time: Castleford Tigers 10-16 Toronto Wolfpack

Castleford Tigers

Rankin, Olpherts, Mata’utia, Shenton, Feki, Trueman, Richardson, Millington, McShane, Griffin, Holmes, Sene-Lefao, Milner

Interchange

Massey, Clare, Eden, Peachey, O’Neill, Hepi

Tries: Richardson, Feki

Conversions: Richardson (1/2)

Toronto Wolfpack

O’Brien, Kay, Miloudi, Leutele, Russell, Mellor, McCrone, Sidlow, Ackers, Mullally, Dixon, Thompson, Singleton

Interchange

Wallace, Springer, Olbison, Wheeler, Cunningham

Tries: O’Brien, Mellor, Wallace

Conversions: Wallace (1/2), O’Brien (1/1)

Sin Bin: Miloudi

Attendance: 3,346

*Match report by Matt Holden

**Photography by Melanie Allatt Photography

***Golden Gamble number: 12304