Match report: Giants 16 - 14 Castleford Tigers

Jun 1 2009 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HEROIC Huddersfield Giants booked themselves a semi-final date with Challenge Cup kings St Helens after a thrilling 16-14 victory over Castleford Tigers.

In a classic Cup-tie that had almost everything, coach Nathan Brown’s side fought back from a 14-6 deficit after 50 minutes to snatch victory in a rousing finale.

The home side had to wait until the 69th minute to cut Castleford’s lead to 14-12 with a try from Carnegie man-of-the-match Stephen Wild before Danny Kirmond’s 76th-minute score sealed this most memorable of successes.

And few could argue that this victory wasn’t fully deserved.

Huddersfield were dominant for the vast majority of the contest, and had they taken the numerous chances that came their way the final margin of the win would have been far wider – and such a dramatic contest in front of the BBC cameras wouldn’t have been served up.

The Giants ran in eight tries against Castleford’s neighbours Wakefield a week earlier, but could manage just three seven days later, despite creating eight clear chances.

In contrast, the Tigers carved out just three opportunities but finished off two of them through Michael Shenton and Brett Ferres to put them in sight of their first semi-final for seven years.

The visitors started brightly when the clever distribution of acting captain Ryan McGoldrick, allied to the kicking of Rangi Chase, helped them offset the loss of scrum half Brett Sherwin.