Castleford Tigers Supporters Club

In front of the Sky cameras, The Tigers and The Wolves produced a tremendous game in difficult conditions, but unfortunately for Cas the result went Warrington's way with a 16-28 scoreline in the visitors favour.

After what was a cracking encounter the main talking point was the eccentric performance of a referee Ben Thaler who seemed to take pleasure in penalising the little things around the 'play the ball'. Sorry Ben, the fans pay to watch the spectacle produced by the players not the performance of the 'Man in the Middle'

That said the endevour was outstanding play from both sides with Lee Briers the 'main man' having a hand (or boot) of 3 of Warrington's 5 tries as well as grabbing a 4 pointer of his own.

Terry Matterson was able to select an unchanged 17 although Craig Huby started at prop with Liam Higgins dropping back to the bench. For the Wolves, Vinnie Anderson took a place on the bench, replacing David Solomona. Off season recruits, Ryan Atkins and Richard Myler took their places in the starting line up.

Cas were rocked after only 4 minutes when Paul Jackson took a heavy knock when attempting to tackle Gareth Carvell, the Warrington prop appeared to raise his elbow. Jackson was helped from the field and the incident went unpunished.

Both sides tried to establish a foothold on the game but defences from both sides were solid and it looked like it would take something special to break the deadlock and that 'Special Play' came with 10 minutes on the clock.

After The Wolves had been penalised for interference, Cas took the ball deep into Warrington territory. Skipper Ryan Hudson switched the play to the blind side and fed Brent Sherwin who in turn sent James Evans through a gap to step Richie Mathers and go in for a well worked try which Thaler handed on to the video ref for confirmation. Joe Westerman added the conversion and The Tigers had a 6-0 lead.

Chris Bridge went on the outside before feeding Chris Riley but the Wolves winger knocked on and a chance went begging. The error was a costly one as from the next set of 6 a Rangi Chase kick was chrged down by Michael Monaghan. The ball fell to Richard Owen who after covering 20 metres turned the ball back to Chase but the cover defence hauled the stand off down as he crossed the 20 metre line.

The Tigers pressed on the Warrington line and when Stuart Jones moved the ball from dummy half to Sherwin. The Aussie scrum half handed on to Ryan McGoldrick and his beautiful delayed pass found Westerman who hit a hole in the defence to crach over from close range for a try which he couldn't convert.

Warrington started to get more possession and better field position and a Briers kick saw McGoldrick deal with under pressure from Riley and that pressure was enough to force the full back into touch and from the resulting set Bridge was tackled just short.

A Ben Westwood offload saw Bridge break before feeding Riley. The winger passed the ball inside which Mathers fumbled but Thaler spotted an infringement in back play and gave the visitors a penalty.

That pressure finally told and that man Briers was at the heart of the score. His kick through caused a scramble over the Tigers try line and eventually Simon Grix beat McGoldrick to the touchdown, again confirmed by the video ref. Briers added the extras and it was 10-6.

The scores were level on 33 minutes when Steve Snitch was ruled to have knocked on at the play the ball and as the Tigers defended resolutely but that man Briers kicked for the corner and Riley won the race to grab a try in the corner, too far out for Briers to add the extra.

Cas did have the opportunity to sneak back in front when Warrington were penalised harshly for interference at the play the ball and Westerman was just off target with an attempt at goal from the touchline.

The opening exchanges were pretty even before The Tigers edged back in front with a 2nd try from Evans. Sherwin'sspeculative kick was fumbled by Mathers and Evans kicked on before diving on the ball for the score.

Westerman was unable to convert and then Briers popped up to intercept a Chase pass to race in from almost half way to score an unconverted try in the corner. Thaler awarded the score although video replays suggested that the Warrington half back had not gone back the required 10 metres after the previous tackle.

A Westerman penalty edged Cas back in front before Carvell grabbed Hudson's arm as the Tigers hooker attempted a pass. The ball went loose and Myler picked up and scooted in beside the posts. Bridge converted and the visitors were in front for the 1st time.

As Cas tried to get back into the game Hudson went in at the corner but the video ref chalked off the score for a knock on by Michael Wainwright. In back play Sherwin had been flattened by Wolves skipper Adrian Morley. The England prop appeared to hit the scrum half late with a high swinging arm and a penalty was awarded to The Tigers. Morley escaped further punishment from Thaler but could certainly have a case to answer from 'powers that be' from Red Hall in the week.

When Snitch was penalised for offside, Bridge stretched the Warrington lead by 2 points before the points were sealed by Myler's 2nd try. It looked as though Briers was shaping for a 1 pointer but as the Cas defence put him under pressure he stepped away and sent his half back partner through a gap to grab a try which Bridge again converted.

A disappointing result in the end but The Tigers put in a good performance against a side who many experts are predicting to end the Leeds - Saints domination. Westerman was again impressive and he was well supported by Snitch who seems to have settled into the side extremely well. 

Next up for Cas is a trip to The Grattan Stadium and the Bradford Bulls. The Bulls haven't started the campaign well and will be looking to kick start their season. With new signings Heath L'Strange and Matt Orford in their ranks plus the likes of Steve Menzies and former Tigers Michael Platt, Wayne Godwin and newly appointed skipper Andy Lynch it promises to be tough encounter.

With the Sky cameras again at the game Cas will go into the game with confidence and will be certain to be backed by a large following of fans as they go in search of another 2 Superleague points.

Tigers: McGoldrick, Owen, Evans, Shenton, Wainwright, Chase, Sherwin, Jackson, Hudson, Huby, Ferres, Snitch, Westerman. Subs: Widders, Sargent, Jones, Higgins

Wolves: Mathers, Riley, Bridge, King, Atkins, Briers, Myler, Morley, Monaghan, Carvell, (L) Anderson, Westwood, Harrison. Subs: Higham, Grix, Wood, (V) Anderson.

Referee: Ben Thaler                         Attendance: 7569

Normytigers Man of the Match

1st Joe Westerman 3 points

2nd Steve Snitch 2 points

3rd Brent Sherwin 1 point