St Helens beat Castleford Tigers in Super League Super 8s thriller
Last Updated: 11/09/15 10:16am
St Helens ended Castleford's Super League Super 8s semi-final hopes with a 42-38 win at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Thursday night.
The lead changed hands on numerous occasions as Saints stretched to an 18-0 lead after 15 minutes before Castleford drew level just before half-time.
The Tigers twice held the lead in the second half but were unable to stem the tries from a rampant Saints team as Adam Swift scored a hat-trick to go with two from Mark Percival and one apiece for Adam Quinlan and Tommy Makinson.
Castleford scored six tries of their own, with Luke Dorn and Ben Roberts both crossing twice for the home side, but it was their defence that ultimately let them down.
Both kickers, Luke Gale and Luke Walsh, provided perfect kicking displays for their respective teams as no kicks were missed on the night.
Castleford started the game with two good defensive efforts, but thereafter Saints broke free and began to pile on the points. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook appeared to have scored but the video referee said it was held up. Saints then restarted and scored within the same set of six, with Swift crashing over in the corner.
Swift popped up in the same place with the same result as he crossed for his second try minutes later. Walsh converted both for a 12-point lead, and made no mistake with the third attempt after Josh Jones ran across the defensive line and popped to Percival, who hit the line at pace to score under the poles.
With the first quarter not even over, Saints had amassed an 18-point lead and appeared set to put the Tigers away. But the home side fought back with quick footwork that resulted in three tries of their own in a 12-minute period.
Dorn scored two within six minutes, both of which came from running good angles, before Roberts shrugged off a series of tackles to run in a try under the sticks.
With three conversions from Gale, the scores were level as the two sides went into the break.
Castleford incredibly took the lead in the second half after a brilliant counter-attack from Mike McMeeken, who fielded a Walsh kick before offloading to Roberts for his second.
Saints hit back with a try of their own to level it before Gale regained the lead for Castleford from the tee to make it 26-24.
It triggered a period of dominance for Saints, during which they put three more tries past the opposition, but they could not shake their hosts as Castleford twice brought the game to within four points.
The second and final try for Castleford came on the back of a long period of sustained pressure to give them one last possession to win the game, but a knock-on ended their season as the referee called time on an incredibly tense game.
The Super 8s continues on Friday night live on Sky Sports 2 HD as Wigan Warriors host Hull FC from 7.30pm.
