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The Tigers ended their regular season with a home win against the basement club Celtic Crusaders by 35 points to 22 although the game lacked any real intensity and had a distinct end of season feel to it. The game will probably be best remembered for the performance of referee James Child who frustrated the home crowd wih some strange decisions before being replaced at half time due to injury. The visitors started brightly and with only 7 minutes on the clock took the lead. Matty Smith's high kick caused confusion in the Cas defence and ex-Tiger Mark Lennon sent Lloyd White in for a try which Stephen Tyrer was unable to convert. Cas hit back when Brett Ferres was held down by Ryan O'Hara and from the penalty, Rangi Chase and Brent Sherwin handled before Ryan McGoldrick sent a long pass for Kirk Dixon to go over for a try in the corner. Joe Westerman was unable to add the extras but converted 4 minutes later when McGoldrick sent Mitchell Sargent through a gap to score behind the posts to give Cas a 10-4 lead. The Crusaders were showing tremendous spirit and hit back with 2 quick fire tries from Lincoln Withers. The 1st came from a Smith grubber kick and Withers was 1st to react and he was again over the whitewash when he backed up a great break from Ben Flower. Tyrer converted both to give his side a 6 point lead. Kirk Netherton ran from dummy half to create the opprotunity for Michael Shenton to send Michael Wainwright in at the corner for an unconverted try. Mr. Child then took centre stage with a string of penalties against the Tigers which culminatied in Shenton spending 10 minutes in the sin bin. A strange decision as he had spoken to McGoldrick on 3 occasions in quick succession and it was Shenton's first offence.The referee had clearly lost patience and it appeared control of the game. Within a minute of the restart the visitors extended their lead to 8 points when O'Hara supported a Smith break for a try which Tyrer again converted. Many in the crowd at this stage were no doubt thinking that the Tigers were playing for a trip to Wakefield instead of Wigan. Any thoughts of that were soon dispelled as Craig Huby's long pass found Brett Ferres who in turn sent Richard Owen in at the corner before a Stuart Jones offload found Sargent who handed on to Chase for the stand off to send Shenton in wide out. Westerman was off target with both conversion attempts but the scores were now level at 22 apiece. Owen then went close before McGoldrick's high kick was palmed back by Sherwin for Ferres sent Shenton infor his 2nd. Dixon took over the kicking duties and duly added the extras. Sherwin chipped in with a drop goal before a McGoldrick pass sent Huby under the post. Dixon again converting to wrap up the scoring and give the Tigers a 35-22 win to round off the season. A trip to the DW Stadium now faces the Tigers as they look to extend their season by a week or 2. It will be a tough task as the Warrior have found some good form in recent weeks but Cas will be backed by a big following and will be looking to cause an upset. Tigers: McGoldrick, Dixon, Evans, Shenton, Wainwright, Chase, Sherwin, Sargent, Jones, Higgins, Ferres, Clayton, Westerman. Subs: Owen, Huby, Feather, Netherton. Celtic: Kear, Bateman, Blackwood, Tyrer, Lennon, Withers, Smith, O'Hara, Budworth, Bryant, James, Chan, White. Subs: Flower, Tangata-Toa, Mills, Davies. Referee: James Child Attendance: 6547 Normytiger's Man of the Match:
1st Craig Huby 3 points 2nd Michael Shenton 2 points 3rd Ryan McGoldrick 1 point |
