Report and reaction as Castleford Tigers end Magic Weekend with loss to Huddersfield Giants

Tigers went into the match just a point adrift of ninth-placed Giants, but were 18-0 behind before they showed any spark, though a couple of late tries – both scored by winger Jason Qareqare – restored some pride after a poor first 50 minutes.

Their coach Craig Lingard’s evening began badly when he was soaked by the pitch sprinklers before the match and he admitted it was a long time before it got better. “It’s disappointing and frustrating,” he admitted. “It took us 55-60 minutes to get into the game, but once we did what we set out to do, it worked. This game was going to be about the basics, intensity and aggression.

“Huddersfield did it really well in the first 15-20 minutes and got the rewards. They executed their game plan better than we did.”

Giants led 12-0 at half-time after scoring two tries in the opening 13 minutes, though Sam Halsall and Sam Hewitt, each converted - the first from the touchline - by Jake Connor. A fine tackle from Tex Hoy, who held up Harry Rushton over the line three minutes before the break, kept Tigers in the game, but they offered nothing on attack, even when Huddersfield’s Tui Lolohea was in the sin-bin following a high tackle on Jacob Miller.

Eight minutes into the second half Qareqare failed to deal with Oliver Russell’s kick and Lolohea gathered the ball to send Esan Marsters over for a soft try which Connor improved, making it 18-0. At that stage Tigers were in danger of being drubbed, but it was 13 against 12 again soon afterwards when Fenton Rogers was sin-binned for a high tackle on Sylvester Namo.

Castleford did better this time, scoring through Qareqare to avoid becoming the third side nilled in six Magic fixtures. The winger finished nicely, one-handed at the corner from Liam Hoy’s looping pass and Rowan Milnes’ narrowed the gap further with a touchline goal.

With 12 minutes left Qareqare struck for the second time, darting over from a pin-point kick by Liam Horne and Milnes again tagged on the two to make it a six-point game. Castleford suddenly had some momentum, but a knock-on by Joe Westerman let Giants off the hook and Connor sealed their win with a long-range penalty goal five minutes from time after a high tackle by Muizz Mustapha on Andre Savelio.

Lingard added: “We left ourselves too much to do, but the positive is we played to the 80th minute and were in with a chance until the penalty goal. ”

Huddersfield Giants: Connor, Jake Bibby, Marsters, Naiqama, Halsall, Lolohea, Russell, C Hill, Milner, Savelio, Rushton, Hewitt, Cudjoe. Subs English, Ikahihifo, Rogers, Rush.

Castleford Tigers: Hoy, Qareqare, C Hall, Tate, I Senior, Milner, Miller, Mustapha, Horne, Hindmarsh-Takyi, El-Zakhem, Mellor, Westerman. Subs Watts, Namo, Martin, G Hill.

Referee: Aaron Moore (Wigan). Day two attendance: 22,293.