Defeat to The Saints.

The Tigers hosted St Helens in Round 11 of the Betfred Super League, a fiery clash in the sunshine and warm weather down at The Mend A Hose Jungle.

Tex Hoy got the tie underway as Cas kicked towards the Wheldon Road end which was bouncing as we kicked off.

St Helens were the first on the board after less than 5 minutes, a high kick which was knocked down by Welsby bounced fortunately into the hands of Sione Matau’tia who dived over.

It was nearly two within for the Saints when a Jonny Lomax kick was knocked through into the in-goal area Konrad Hurrell was there however the centre knocked on over the line.

Cas thought they’d hit back through Innes Senior in the corner, however scrambling defence knocked Senior into touch. A late high shot from Tommy Makinson in the build-up saw the winger go back into the changing rooms as he saw red from the referee.

Being down to 12 men didn’t stop St Helens when Jonny Lomax found Mark Percival who rushed down the touchline and found Lomax back on the inside.

Too many errors cost the Tigers multiple attempts in the first half as well as two failed head injury assessments with Alex Mellor and Tex Hoy leaving the field early on. 

This didn’t stop Cas though as Louis Senior got himself on the score sheet with 3 minutes to play in the first half, Rowan Milnes’ conversion nearly put Cas within two however it bounced off the post.

St Helens were the side in front at the half as two tries to the Tigers’ one kept them ahead.

It didn’t take long in the second half for Jack Welsby to make his mark as the fullback received an inside ball and skipped round Paul McShane to dot down in front of the Wheldon Road end.

Cas were also reduced down to 12 men when Liam Horne’s tip tackle left James Bell on the floor leaving the referee no other choice than to give him a red card. Saints then followed this up with a 2 point conversion in front of the sticks.

The Fords were killing themselves with mistakes in the second half when Cain Robb lost possession of a high kick from the Saints. Mark Percival then pounced on a Lewis Dodd kick into the corner.

This was the start of the onslaught when Konrad Hurrell broke through the line moments later, Waqa Blake was there to receive a 2 on 1 pass and the Saints dived over for another.

Jack Welsby got his second of the day after pushing insdie of a trick play that allowed Hurrell to burst through the line once again.

James Bell got himself on the score sheet as another high kick was patted down into his hands, another sloppy try conceded by the Fords.

James Bell quickly got his double with 12 minutes to go as his footwork saw him dance his way through the Tigers defence.

Waqa Blake was another Saints player to get his brace as he used his pace and acrobatics to fly into the corner unphased.

The Saints tries were coming quickly as Lewis Dodd got over for one himself as Percival got through the line and found Dodd on the inside.

With the last play of the game Waqa Blake completed his hat trick in the corner in what was a poor defensive display for Cas and a top second half performance for St Helens.

A tough defeat for the Tigers with a second half performance which will quickly be forgotten as the focus now goes on to Hull FC in a couple of weeks.

FULL TIME SCORE: CASTLEFORD TIGERS 4 – 60 ST HELENS

Castleford Tigers:  Tex Hoy, Louis Senior, Corey Hall, Sam Wood, Innes Senior, Rowan Milnes, Jacob Miller, Liam Watts, Paul McShane, Joe Westerman, Alex Mellor, Elie El-Zakhem, George Hill.

Interchanges: Liam Horne, George Griffin, Cain Robb, Sam Eseh.

18th Man:  Brad Martin

Tries: L. Senior

Conversions:

Red Card: Liam Horne

St Helens: Jack Welsby, Tommy Makinson, Konrad Hurrell, Mark Percival, Waqa Blake, Jonny Lomax, Lewis Dodd, Sione Matau’tia, Daryl Clark, Matty Lees, Curtis Sironen, Joe Batchelor, James Bell.

Interchanges: Moses Mbye, Jake Wingfield, George Delaney, Noah Stephens.

18th Man: Ben Davies.

Tries: Matau’tia, Lomax, Welsby x2, Percival, Blake x3, Bell x2, Dodd

Conversions: Percival x7

Red Card: Makinson

Penalty Goal: Percival

Golden Gamble: 1144

Attendance 7869