Castleford Tigers 16 Salford 32: Justin Carney goes back to show Tigers what they are missing

WINGER Justin Carney scored two tries on his return to Wheldon Road as Salford Red Devils inflicted Castleford Tigers' second successive defeat.
Justin Carney.Justin Carney.
Justin Carney.

An off-field matter led to Carney departing, initially on a season-long loan, at the end of the last campaign and the ill-feeling showed when he was sin-binned for lashing out at Nathan Massey just four minutes into the game.

Both Carney’s tries came after he switched from the right-flank to the left, his second touchdown sealing a deserved 32-16 win for an impressive Salford side who were the better team for all but a spell in the final quarter.

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Salford went 2-0 ahead during Carney’s spell in the sin-bin, through a penalty goal from Gareth O’Brien, who also converted all five of the visitors’ tries. The first came on 31 minutes when Tommy Lee broke up the middle and Junior Sa’u was in support to put Greg Johnson over.

Justin Carney.Justin Carney.
Justin Carney.

Denny Solomona got Castleford off the mark by racing through from Luke Gale’s pass five minutes before half-time.

Gale could not convert, but added a penalty after the hooter.

Solomona had a ‘try’ disallowed when Gale’s pass was ruled forward before Salford took control with two tries in five minutes. Josh Griffin and Carney crossed from passes by Michael Dobson and O’Brien to make it 20-6.

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Castleford got back into the game with a long-range try begun by Paul McShane’s break. Ryan Hampshire, making his debut on loan from Wigan, was in support and his long pass was finished by Solomona. The winger struck again with seven minutes remaining for his ninth try of the season and second hat-trick.

Justin Carney.Justin Carney.
Justin Carney.

Gale could not convert, but Castleford were threatening again when Ben Murdoch-Masila intercepted to set up a second try for Griffin, with Carney completing his brace on the final play.

Castleford were without Ben Roberts, Grant Millington, Junior Moors and Oliver Holmes and lost Luke Dorn in the third quarter, but coach Daryl Powell refused to use injuries as an excuse.

He said: “There’s too many poor things in our game at the moment. We have got to improve on that. We made too many errors. Rugby league is a game for tough men and we’re going to have to be tough over the coming weeks.”

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Castleford Tigers: Dorn, Monaghan, Crooks, Webster, Solomona, Hampshire, Gale, Lynch, Milner, Jewitt, McMeeken, Cook, Massey. Substitutes: McShane, Boyle, Springer, Maher.

Salford: O’Brien, Carney, Sa’u, J Griffin, Johnson, Lui, Dobson, Kopczak, Lee, G Griffin, Murdoch-Masila, Jones, Lannon. Substitutes: Flanagan, A Walne, Tomkins, Joseph.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington).