Batley Bulldogs 14 Castleford Tigers 28 - Craig Lingard hoping Tigers use Challenge Cup triumph to kick-start Super League campaign

Lingard’s men defied the infamous slope and swirling conditions at the Fox’s Biscuit Stadium as they came on strong in the second half to reach the last eight with a 28-14 win over the Championship side.

It proved a happy return for former Batley hero Lingard, who immediately turned his attention to Thursday’s top-flight clash with Leeds, when the Tigers will hunt for their first points of the season.

Lingard said: “It’s good to get that first win. Habits are hard to break and a losing habit is something you don’t want to get into, so to get out of it is a good feeling and we’ve got to take that into the Leeds game on Thursday.

“It was a banana skin – we were not expecting to come here and score 40 or 50 points.

"It’s pleasing to get that monkey off our backs that we haven’t won a game all season and we want to use it as a bit of a springboard.”

Nevertheless Lingard admitted he was far from content with his side’s display, especially in the first half when they came up second best, both against the elements and a Batley side who barged into an 8-0 lead and were unfortunate to be pegged back to 14-14 at the break.

“I was really disappointed with the tries we conceded but it’s better to be frustrated after a win than a loss,” added Lingard.

“I’ve been here long enough to know what that hill can do. I think it’s more mental, but speaking to some of our players, they’ve just said they wouldn’t play here for a golden pig if it was week in, week out on that hill.

“They’ve played against a really top quality Championship side on that pitch in difficult conditions and to get through a tough tie like that, sometimes these are the better ones to win.”

Lingard cut a visibly-frustrated figure on the touchline for much of the opening period as the hosts coped better with the conditions.

Playing down the slope from the start, Batley’s forwards piled forward and deservedly opened the scoring after 10 minutes when Dane Manning twisted through a gap and Dave Gibbons added the conversion.

Gibbons increased Batley’s lead to eight after Paul McShane’s drop-out failed to make 10 metres in the swirling win and there seemed few signs of a Castleford revival.

The home defence denied Josh Simm, while Ben White’s kicks were causing havoc, before back-to-back tries from the visitors shifted the momentum in their favour.

A moment of quality from Jack Broadbent sent Simm over in the right corner, then Liam Horne grabbed Jacob Miller’s kick under the posts and off-loaded for Rowan Milnes to touch down.

McShane’s conversion nudged Castleford in front for the first time but the hosts were far from done and a spirited cup tie swung back in their favour when Brandon Moore bulled through to score on his 200th career appearance.

Gibbons’ conversion shunted the underdogs four clear but Cas hauled level on the hooter when Miller sent Innes Senior over for an acrobatic effort in the corner.

With the conditions in their favour after the break, the Tigers were expected to pull clear and when McShane burrowed over three minutes after the restart, it looked a sign of things to come.

His conversion sent the visitors six up but minutes later Senior was sin binned for a late tackle and Batley made good ground as they looked to press home their numerical advantage.

Instead it was Castleford who took their chance to go further ahead, when Joe Westerman fed Miller on the left and – with a 10-point cushion and less than 15 minutes remaining – Lingard’s return was destined to be a happy one.

Senior was back on the pitch to score his second and his side’s sixth and the visitors were more than happy to play down the clock and complete a long-awaited first win of the season.

Batley coach Mark Moxon, who replaced Lingard when he moved to Wheldon Road last season, expressed pride in his side’s performance.

“The effort was fantastic, but I knew I was going to get that because that’s what they give every week,” said Moxon.

“I guess if I’m going to be picky it was a bad time to concede a try on the stroke of half-time and in the second half – when we had periods of good ball – we just lacked the quality to take those chances.”