Classy Cas remain perfect

Castleford returned to the top of the Engage Super League table thanks to a hard-fought 34-24 home victory over Catalan Dragons.

The Tigers scored four second-half tries, two of them length-of-the-field efforts, to record a fourth straight win and take over from Warrington, who beat Wakefield on Friday night, at the summit.

The Dragons had at one stage threatened to upset the odds at the PROBIZ Coliseum, making the most of a fast start to lead 18-12 at the break.

However, long-range scores from Nick Youngquest and Joe Arundel made sure Castleford maintained the only 100 percent record in the top flight, despite encountering some strong French resistance.

No pushovers

The visitors scored two tries in the opening nine minutes to show they would be no pushovers, Scott Dureau finding himself at the heart of both.

The diminutive scrum-half capitalised on Steve Menzies' knock back from an up-and-under out wide to break the deadlock and then created the second for Damien Blanch with a beautiful high kick off the outside of his right boot.

It could have been even better for the visitors had the bounce of the ball not defeated Dureau as he tried to get on the end of a chip over the top.

Yet for all their impressive play going forward, the major issue for the Dragons was their inability to stay on the right side of referee Phil Bentham. Back-to-back penalties led to Craig Huby ploughing his way to the line from close range after 15 minutes as Castleford were allowed to get a foothold.

Krik Dixon converted and was also on target with the extras to put the now rampant hosts ahead after Stuart Jones had touched down.

The Dragons, though, again hit the front against the run of play with Dureau getting his second of the night thanks to Menzies' offload. The scorer slotted over the conversion and then added a penalty right on the half-time hooter.

Down by six heading into the second half, the Tigers came roaring out of the blocks when play got back underway.

Poor discipline

Again a Catalan penalty gifted them great field position, allowing Richard Mathers to chime into the attacking line and float out a cut-out pass for Dixon to finish on the right.

Chase also made the most of the Dragons poor discipline, the half-back dummying to create a gap to burst through himself, before Youngquest turned defence into attack to score a third home try in the space of nine minutes.

The ex-Crusaders winger swallowed a bomb and then set off for the other end, going 90 metres to finally open up daylight between the two teams.

Arundel followed the example of his team-mate with a lung-bursting effort that all came about through the Dragons trying to force the pass in desperation. Dixon added the extras to complete a personal haul of 14 points.

Although Cyril Stacul dived in at the left corner late on, it was no more than a late consolation effort for a Dragons side that had already shot themselves in the foot with a high penalty count and careless handling when well placed.