Women's Super League: Castleford Tigers and Bradford Bulls off to winning starts

The inaugural Women's Super League kicked off last weekend with Castleford Tigers and Bradford Bulls picking up impressive victories.
Castleford Tigers Ladies in action against Featherstone Rovers.Castleford Tigers Ladies in action against Featherstone Rovers.
Castleford Tigers Ladies in action against Featherstone Rovers.

Castleford Tigers Ladies are certainly the overwhelming underdogs in this competition with their youthful squad nevertheless, they kicked off their campaign with a 48-14 win against local rivals, Featherstone Rovers.

Lucy Eastwood was the star of the show as she went on to score five tries. Two efforts for Ellie Lamb and one for Jasmine Cudjoe further extended Castleford’s lead while Katie Hepworth’s eight goals made sure of the victory.

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Featherstone, who turned up for the match with only 10 players, gave it their best shot but ultimately were overpowered by the numbers advantage. Rovers did have some good moments with Jasmine Hazel and Sarah Dunn scoring three tries between them.

Spectators enjoy the opening Women's Super League match between Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers.Spectators enjoy the opening Women's Super League match between Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers.
Spectators enjoy the opening Women's Super League match between Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers.

Speaking after the match Castleford’s head coach, Lindsay Anfield, praised her team’s effort saying:

“I’m thrilled to beat Featherstone in our first Women’s Super League game. I am extremely proud of the girls’ efforts and how far they have come this season. We have a lot to work on but will take a lot of confidence from this win.”

Elsewhere, Bradford Bulls continued their unbeaten run this season with a 32-26 victory against European Champions, Thatto Heath St Helens.

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Shona Hoyle and Amy Hardcastle both scored hat-tricks as Bradford picked up their third successive victory over Thatto.

Spectators enjoy the opening Women's Super League match between Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers.Spectators enjoy the opening Women's Super League match between Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers.
Spectators enjoy the opening Women's Super League match between Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers.

The visitors were scoreless at the interval but came out in the second half with a point to prove and tries from Danni Bound, Tara Stanley, Rachel Thompson and Faye Gaskin certainly threatened a comeback.

Speaking after the game, Bradford head coach Mark Prescott said: “It was an outstanding first half performance that saw us really take the game to Thatto. Shona Hoyle ran some great lines and Amy Hardcastle broke the line twice to score her brace and give us that 22-0 half-time lead.

“The second half was a different story. Thatto came out more determined and really had us on the back foot. Credit to the girls though, they dug deep and made sure we came away with both points.”

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There are no Super League fixtures this weekend as Bradford and Featherstone compete in the women’s Challenge Cup Final on Sunday.

However, the following weekend, all four teams are back in action as Bradford host Castleford and Thatto take on Featherstone.