Castleford Tigers 34 Bradford Bulls 30: Orr ensures Bulls are unable to make most of Tigers’ busy spell

On the back of Wednesday’s draining but inspiring loss at Wigan, Terry Matterson’s side would have been wary of the potential threat posed by a fresher Bradford outfit still harbouring hopes of sneaking into the top eight.

However, with captain Danny Orr in inspirational form, they managed to overcome a shaky start to produce a performance full of passion, character and resilience.

The latter is something their struggling opponents have sorely missed on too many occasions this season illustrated again as three times the erring Bulls contrived to squander a 12-point lead.

Castleford only led once during the entire encounter – after Stuart Jones crashed over off the latest of Orr’s cutting passes in the 66th minute, Kirk Dixon’s fifth conversion making it 34-30.

The difference was they knew how to defend their advantage, as a series of last-ditch tackles as Bradford pressed to rescue the game clearly showed.

Adam Milner held up Andy Lynch, Shad Royston tried scrambling close on the last tackle only for Orr to somehow repel him and then Jones denied Lynch again in the final seconds.

The desire and spirit was obvious as Castleford – who had lost their previous three Super League games – held on for a dramatic success.

Bradford, with England internationals Jamie Langley and Paul Sykes recalled, got off to a lightning start courtesy of two well-taken tries by Brett Kearney in the opening four minutes.

First, the lively full-back rose with Castleford opposite number Ryan McGoldrick while challenging for Marc Herbert’s hanging kick at the side of the posts, coming down in possession when such a success seemed highly implausible.

Then Herbert’s clever inside pass on the last tackle put the Australian searing through a gap before grubbering past McGoldrick for a fine solo effort.

Patrick Ah Van converted both and dozing Castleford looked like minds and bodies were elsewhere after that recent hectic schedule.

However, when Langley was penalised for ball-stealing, they earned some field position.

Paul Jackson’s off-load was not intended but the loose ball that emerged as he appeared to be tackled caught the Bradford defence off-guard allowing young hooker Milner to pick up and burst over from 10m.

Dixon improved the score but Bradford responded swiftly as Gareth Raynor intercepted Rangi Chase’s speculative long pass and raced 70m.

Orr – one of five players returning to help ease their injury woe – did brilliantly to chase back and haul in the ex-Great Britain winger but his effort was in vain as, soon after, Herbert’s wide pass totally baffled Joe Arundel to leave Raynor with an easy stroll over from close range.

Bradford coach Mick Potter has been maddened by his side’s error rate of late though and their ability to self-destruct came back to haunt them when they failed to build continued pressure.

Former Leeds hooker Matt Diskin – put on report for allegedly using his knees on Richie Owen – gave a forward pass from dummy half before losing possession trying to dart and such basic mistakes encouraged their hosts.

A sweeping movement saw Orr’s long pass pick out Arundel who stepped back inside and weaved his way to the line from 20m out before Chase shimmied his way through after Kearney had made a mess of trying to deal with Milner’s impromptu grubber.

Dixon’s kicks levelled it at 18-18 only for Castleford to concede just before the break.

They had managed to defend a drop-out but then annoyingly saw Dean Widders lose the ball coming out of his own 20 and Olivier Elima poked through to furnish Royston with a try, Ah Van securing a 24-18 half-time advantage.

Bradford extended their lead within a minute of the second half starting when Ben Jeffries dummied his way through the line and found Kearney on his inside shoulder, the full-back returning a pass outside to Paul Sykes who celebrated his 250th career appearance with the try.

Ah Van converted again but what should have been a 12-point advantage on which to build was swiftly halved when more hesitant Bulls defence allowed Orr’s well-timed pass to send Rob Parker surging through untouched for a try in only his second game since joining from Salford on loan.

Then the dangerous Ryan McGoldrick’s smart assist provided Arundel with his second in the 56th minute but Dixon missed his only kick of the afternoon to leave them still short.

Some brilliance from Chase, where he kicked and danced his way through, nearly saw the Kiwi stand-off score but Royston just denied him inches short.

However, the crucial moment came when Orr somehow got across to deny Raynor a second when the winger seemed destined to score.

It lifted Castleford, who celebrated with their captain as if he had scored a match-winning try, and soon after it was the veteran scrum-half who created the gap for Jones to exploit and, indeed, secure the decisive effort.

Castleford Tigers: McGoldrick; Youngquest, Dixon, Arundel, Owen; Chase, Orr; Jackson, Milner, Parker, Ferres, Jones, Hudson. Substitutes: Massey, Thompson, Widders, Davies.

Bradford Bulls: Kearney; Ah Van, Sykes, Whitehead, Raynor; Jeffries, Herbert; Lynch, Diskin, Burgess, Elima, Langley, Hargreaves. Substitutes: Addy, Royston, Kopczak, Scruton.

Referee: Richard Silverwood (Mirfield).

Hay lauds effort and character of Castleford

ASSISTANT coach Andy Hay believes Castleford Tigers’ “vital” 34-30 success over Bradford Bulls will inspire them ahead of the club’s most important period of the season.

Despite playing for a third time in nine days, they had the energy to come back twice to defeat their West Yorkshire rivals and have opened up a three-point cushion in pursuit of a play-off berth.

“It was vital for both sides to win and it was a great victory after the week we’ve had,” said Hay, after a rousing defensive finish held Bradford at bay towards the end.

“Given the effort the lads put in on Wednesday (at Wigan) and this game, coming back from so far behind in the first and second half, is credit to them.

“It showed the character of the team the way they put themselves about and they proved to each other they can defend as a unit.

“It’s crucial as a start of three of the biggest games of our season. We need to build on this first one and the experience we gained by grinding it out and then holding out for the win is something we’ll take with us.”

Stuart Jones’s 66th-minute try wrested back control for Castleford who had trailed by 12 points on three separate occasions.

After a tough few weeks, Tigers – now in sixth – face bottom-placed Crusaders on Saturday then Huddersfield in a Carnegie Challenge Cup quarter-final.

Former Great Britain second-row Hay, meanwhile, admitted he has applied for Castleford’s head coach role following Terry Matterson’s decision to leave at the end of the season.

Bradford chief Mick Potter was despondent after seeing his side relinquish a winning position for a second successive week. Having failed to see off 12-man Catalan, they were their own worst enemies again yesterday and are 11th, five points off the pace with just six games to go.

“We can’t build pressure on teams as we’re making too many errors,” he said. “And they’re unforced errors too.

“Perhaps I was expecting or hopeful of a response (yesterday) but it wasn’t to be. I’m not sure if we chucked it away; Cas were resilient and hung in. It was a third game in a week and they played really well.

“But we just weren’t good enough and I’m saying the same things each week.”