Huddersfield Giants defeated Castleford Tigers 40-26 tonight at the John Smith’s Stadium to tighten their grip on third place while damaging the Tigers’ own top four hopes.
The Tigers, fielding an inexperienced back line, took a smart 0-10 lead early in the game through tries by Luke Gale and Ashley Gibson, with Gale converting his own score.
But the Giants hit back with five exciting first-half tries from Ukuma Ta’ai, two from Jermaine McGillvary, Jake Connor and Aaron Murphy for a 24-10 interval lead.
The Tigers narrowed the gap to 24-20 on 60 minutes, however, with tries from Luke Dorn and Ben Roberts.
But they couldn’t quite close the gap, and the Giants scored three more tries from Joe Wardle and Jamie Ellis, before Eorl Crabtree scored the most popular try of the night on his 400th career appearance.
The Tigers were the last to score, however, when Denny Solomona raced almost the length of the field to touch down in the final minute of the game.
A full report, photos and analysis will feature in Monday’s League Express.
