Crusaders leave it late

Crusaders chalked up their ninth win of the Super League season with a dramatic triumph over Castleford in Neath.

The Welsh outfit found themselves 24-18 behind with just seven minutes remaining, but converted tries from Tony Martin and Jarrod Sammut secured a vital victory that keeps alive their play-off hopes.

Indeed, the hosts demonstrated their character throughout a topsy-turvy encounter, fighting back from an early 12-0 deficit to emerge triumphant.

Following a tight opening to the game, Castleford hit the front on 16 minutes when Joe Westerman finished well and then converted his own try.

The lead was doubled eight minutes later when stand-off Dean Withers raced on to Ryan McGoldrick's neat grubber kick and touched down, Westerman again adding the extras.

But the Tigers were unable to build on that platform and the Crusaders' pressure on the visitors' line paid off when stand-off Rhys Hanbury collected a loose ball to go over.

Four minutes from the break a move inside the Cas 25 saw replacement forward Jordan James power his way over - full-back Clinton Schifcofske converting both tries to level the scores at 12-12 at the break.

Momentum shift

The momentum then looked to be shifting to the home side as second row Weller Hauraki took the ball from dummy half and rumbled over from close range nine minutes into the second period - Schifcofske's conversion put the Welshmen into the lead for the first time in the match.

However, it did not last as the Tigers regrouped and reasserted themselves with a period of pressure on the Crusaders line.

It was to eventually pay off as centre Michael Shenton eased through a wide gap to touch down underneath the posts.

With the tension growing, scrum-half Rangi Chase put Cas back in front as he scooted over with 11 minutes remaining.

But cheered on by a partisan home crowd, Crusaders produced a grandstand finish with Martin latching onto a neat kick to the goal-line and just grounding it ahead of the cover defence.

Sammut then delivered the coup de grace as he found his way over underneath the posts and celebrated with a cartwheel and backflip.

Cas tried to grab the draw, with Westerman coming agonisingly close to his second touchdown of the game before the ball was turned over.