betfred premier league
Castleford Tigers (16) 34
try: Hood, McIntosh, Lawler, Weaver 2, Golding Target: Weaver 5
Huddersfield Giants (4) 8
try: Flanagan Gague
Ashton Golding scored on his Castleford debut against former club Huddersfield Giants to give the Tigers their first Super League win of the season.
Tries from Liam Hood, Darnell McIntosh and George Lawler kept the Tigers ahead in the opening 30 minutes, but Jacob Gagai pulled one back before the break to make it 16-4.
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Tom Weaver then added two crucial tries in the second half either side of George Flanagan’s four-point try to give the Tigers their first league win under head coach Ryan Carr.
The biggest celebration of the night was reserved for Golding, who scored a memorable first try for his new club after leaving five years after last season.
Early season performances and misfortunes have mirrored each other before the West Yorkshire rivals clashed at the OneBore Stadium. Both were winless, meaningless, and both were hit by injuries.
Captain Alex Mellor becomes the latest Tigers player to miss out after breaking his leg in last week’s loss to Toulouse, while the Giants themselves are without a host of injured regulars, including Liam Sutcliffe, Joe Greenwood and Harry Rushton, due to long-term layoffs.
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France international Tanguy Zenon started for injury-plagued Huddersfield just two days after joining the club, while Wigan loanee George Hirst and former Giants pair Jack Ashworth and Golding also made their debuts for the Tigers.
Hood got off to an ideal start for the hosts, sprinting from the false half to score his second try of the season after Joe Stimson was pushed down near the line.
Castleford got a deserved second goal through McIntosh, who burst through a depleted Giants defense who were pressed back to the line after Taane Milne’s reckless penalty on Krystian Mapapalangi’s high shot.
Lawlor was knocked under the post at Castleford’s third try in the 26th minute and Milne was in the bin, but Huddersfield finished the half stronger after that, with Zenon denied by Michele Lavalava’s save and Gaguet eventually responding with a goal in the 38th minute.
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Huddersfield continued to threaten but wasted no time in finding a chance to get back into the game, 18 points ahead of Castleford after Weaver latched on to Daejarn Asi’s brilliant Graber kick.
Flanagan struck back shortly after to give the Giants new hope, but Weaver’s second put the result beyond doubt before Golding fell to spark wild celebrations.
Castleford Tigers: Sydney, Lavarava, Mapapalanji, McIntosh, Karakal, Assi, Weaver, Atoni, Hood, Westerman, Lane, Hurst, Stimson.
Alternatives: Lawler, Ashworth, Hall, Golding.
Huddersfield Giants: Patolo, Woolford, Rogers, O’Donnell, Billington, Powell, Russell, Lolohia, Halsall, Milne, Gagai, Zenon, Flanagan.
Alternatives: Burgess, King, Rush, English.
Referee: Marty Lynn.