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The Tigers were edged out in a thriller at The Jungle which will stay in the memory for the controversial way in which the game was decided effectively by the 'Video Ref' Steve Ganson. When in the middle Ganson seems to want to take centre stage and now it appears that he wants to grab the limelight when off the field. The St. Helens based whistleblower disallowed a score from Tigers debutant on loan winger Shaun Ainscough on the stroke of half time, much to the frustration of the Cas faithful, but worse was to follow when he awarded a try to Liam Watts after what appeared to be a knock on by the Rovers sub. A decision Terry Matterson described as 'disgraceful'. From the off Cas held the upper hand and with only 3 minutes on the clock hard working winger Michael Wainwright crossed for a 4 pointer after some breathtaking stuff as the ball went through 6 pairs of hands before the ball was planted over the try line. The position was set after a grea break from acting half by Ryan Hudson and the Tigers skipper handed on to James Evans who carried the ball deep into Rovers territory. From the play the ball, Hudson's pas to Brent Sherwin went astray but the 'Painted One', Ryan McGoldrick picked up the loose ball. McGoldrick fed Rangi Chase whose cut out pass found Michael Shenton in space. Shenton carried the move on and with support on either side found Brett Ferres on his inside, Ferres drew Shaun Briscoe before sending Wainwright in, with the winger cutting in towards the posts to make the conversion attempt easier. Inexplicably Joe Westerman was off target with his kick but was on target 5 minutes later. Sherwin's little kick caused confusion in the Rovers ranks and Ainscough showed neat 'soccer skills' to sidefoot past Briscoe as he scooted round the other side of the full back before gathering in the ball and gracefully side-stepping past England winger Peter Fox to score between the posts, for a dream start to his Tigers career. Cas continued to dominate field position and only a lack of composure and poor handling cost them dearly. The only real threat from Rovers in the early stages came as a Clint Newton offload sent Jake Webster away but the strong running centre was halted by a try saver from McGoldrick. A 40/20 from Scott Murrell turned the tide in the visitors favour and from the resulting play Watts was tackled just short. Murrell was alert from the play the ball and dived over from acting half back for a try which referee Phil Bentham handed onto Ganson for the decision. Ganson ruled try although the play the ball was a little 'iffy' to say the least. Dobson converted when he added the extras to his own try, off a Chaz I'Anson kick. Considering the weight of possession in Cas favour the visitors lead 12-10 at the half hour mark and it stayed that way to the break, although Ainscough almost bagged a 2nd score. A break from Steve Snitch saw the 2nd row man feed Ainscough who dived in uder pressure from Ben Cockayne. The ball came free and Bentham once again handed on to the video ref who again ruled in Rovers favour and with TV evidence inconclusive 'Benefit of the Doubt' should maybe have been the decision. The 2nd half started in similar fashion to the 1st with the Tigers on the front foot. Hudson pushed a neat kick into the in goal where Briscoe grounded to conced a drop out. From the resulting set of 6 Sherwin found McGoldrick who in turn sent out a long pass and Ainscough was in for his second, this time awarded by Ganson, the only time he ruled in favour of the Tigers. Westerman converted to edge Cas back in front 16-12. That scoreline became 20-12 on 52 minutes when another long pass from McGoldrick found Evans who sent Ainscough in for a debut hat-trick as the winger showed his finishing ability to score from close range, too wide out for Westerman to convert. The Robins reduced the deficit when Ganson ruked a try after Dobson's kick to the corner had been missed by Kris Welham, Ainscough kicke thin air and Cockayne gratefully pounced on the loose ball. Dobson converted and the scrum half was on target to add the extras and seal the 2 league points after Watts' controversial try. A Dobson kick ricocheted off Stuart Jones and Watts attemppted to gather the ball in and dive over but he clearly lost possession as he dived over. Watts thumped the floor in frustration but Ganson didn't read anything into the body language of the prop and awarded the try. Another disappointing result for the Tigers at The Jungle, especiall considering that they raced into a 10-0 lead for the second home game running and again let the lead slip. This will be something that Matterson will be looking to put right for the visit of Wigan in a couple of weeks time. Before that the Tigers visit the KC Stadium to meet an in-form Hull FC followed by a trip over to France to face the Catalans Dragons. Tigers: McGoldrick, Ainscough, Evans, Shenton, Wainwright, Chase, Sherwin, Sargent, Hudson, Jackson, Ferres, Snitch, Westerman. Subs: Jones, Huby, Thompson, Higgins. Rovers: Briscoe, Fox, Welham, Webster, Cockayne, I'Anson, Dobson, Lovegrove, Murrell, Clinton, Newton, Cook, Vella. Subs: Watts, Wheeldon, Netherton, Fisher. Referee: Phil Bentham Attendance 6855 Normytigers Man of the Match (Image to follow) 1st Shaun Ainscough 3 points 2nd Ryan McGoldrick 2 points 3rd Ryan Hudson 1 point |