CASTLEFORD TIGERS recorded an incredible 26-24 win over Leeds Rhinos to round off the first day at Super League’s Magic Weekend.
Late tries from Alex Mellor and Jason Qareqare secured a two-point victory with Castleford enjoying the lion’s share of good field position.
It was head coach Andy Last’s first win since being appointed as permanent boss and he was happy to say the least.
“I’m absolutely over the moon, it’s a sense of relief. It is probably the first time this year that I have felt the pressure of needing the win,” Last said.
“When an opponent is suffering adversity with some players missing, it felt like a significant game for us as a group that we needed to win.
“With ten to go we were ten down but I always had the belief if we got the ball to our best players we would cause problems.
“Joe Westerman and Liam Watts were great down the middle and Gaz Widdop played his best game of the season out the back. You need those senior guys to stand up.
“Gaz is a quality player and person, he is a really smart rugby league player. He trains well and speaks well in his meetings. He is part of our leadership group that we lean on with his rugby knowledge. He picked some great passes and looked a real threat. It was a real throwback for him.”
Castleford did suffer two late injuries to Alex Mellor and Jordan Turner, but both aren’t serious.
“Alex has come off, speaking fine, he had his can of Coca-Cola after the game! He might have to have a couple of stitches.
“Jordan came into the game with a tight calf, we monitored it and during the course of the game he felt his left side tighten up.
“We think it might be a neural thing, but because of the nature of Leeds and how they play, you can’t stop moving defensively.
“He was limping and we put Kenny Edwards into the left and put a fresh body out on the left. Jordan was reluctant to come off but you can’t have any passengers out there against Leeds.”
Last hailed the club’s supporters, and revealed that him and the players had had a “big meeting” about performances
“The supporters have done it tough, there were 2,000 of them out there and they were singing about it at the end
“After the Hull FC Challenge Cup game, we had a big meeting that I was going to put back to pre-season next year, but we needed to fast forward and set some standards and put the first-half of the season behind us.
“Although we didn’t get the result, there were shoots of promise against Huddersfield. Today some of the stuff we worked on in practice came to show – our execution was good and slick on the edge. We scored some really nice rugby league tries.”
Last was also asked about Jason Qareqare and how he excelled following his recall from the Bradford Bulls.
“We all now what Jason is about. He is very athletic and can finish a try. You put him in open field and he can finish from distance, but we challenged to better him on carrying out of yardage and he made some telling carries.
“We’ve just got to get him to be enthused about doing that job and rolling his sleeves up. The try that he scored was a very good one but we know he is capable of that.”
