HUDDERSFIELD Giants’ dream of a Challenge Cup final appearance at Wembley is very much alive!
Their reward for a comfortable 38-12 fifth-round Galpharm triumph against Rochdale is another home draw in the last eight against fellow Super League side Castleford Tigers.
The tie will take place on Sunday, May 31 in front of the BBC TV cameras.
Huddersfield have an excellent recent record against the Tigers, having already won 26-24 at The Jungle in March, while they romped to a 64-12 triumph over them at the Galpharm last season.
And head coach Nathan Brown is hopeful that run will continue.
“Castleford are a good team who can score plenty of points,” he said.
“But we know they are a side we are capable of beating, as we’ve already shown this season, and you obviously can’t beat playing at the Galpharm.
“On top of that, their fans won’t have too far to travel, so with a semi-final spot, at stake it has all the makings of a fantastic occasion.”
Huddersfield obviously booked their meeting against the Tigers after their seven-try triumph over the Hornets yesterday.
With their visitors struggling in Championship I, the Giants rested eight first-team regulars, while fellow top-line performers Liam Fulton (knee) and Andy Raleigh (knee) remain on the injury list.
But they were still too strong for the Hornets, with assistant coach Paul Anderson pleased with the way things went.
“It was objective achieved for us,” he said. “That was the whole aim of the game.
“We knew the fluency wouldn’t be there because of the changes we made.
“The performance probably wasn’t great but we always knew it would be difficult because we made so many changes.
“I’m really pleased for the kids. Larne Patrick, Keal Carlile and Josh Griffin all did well.”
Full draw – Page 37.
