Huddersfield 22 Castleford 30: Gale shows his worth as Tigers beat Giants

Luke Gale marked signing a new five-year contract with a try and five goals to lead Castleford to their first win at Huddersfield since June 2009.
Jake Webster goes over for a try.Jake Webster goes over for a try.
Jake Webster goes over for a try.

Scrum-half and captain Gale, who this week committed to the Tigers until the end of 2021, orchestrated the 30-22 success which consolidated their place in the top eight, while making the Giants’ task of avoiding the relegation scrap even more difficult.

Super League’s top try-scorer Denny Solomona extended his season’s tally to 22 with two more touchdowns while Jake Webster also grabbed a brace of tries as Cas bounced back from last week’s home defeat to Wigan.

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Huddersfield were dealt an early blow when talismanic half-back Danny Brough failed to recover from a dead leg picked up at Widnes, allowing high-profile signing Ryan Brierley to regain his place.

Cas welcomed Nathan Massey back from suspension in place of on-loan Giant Larne Patrick, who was unable to play against his parent club. The Tigers went ahead in the sixth minute when a Gale kick bounced free for Solomona to touchdown.

But the Giants hit back when a flowing move down the right involving Leroy Cudjoe and Jermaine McGilvary ended with Ellis crossing over, converting his own try. A heated Yorkshire derby descended into fisticuffs midway through the first half with Lee Jewitt and Josh Johnson receiving 10 minutes in the sin-bin as a result of the fracas.

The Giants, helped forward by an advantageous early penalty count, had most of the possession but it was Cas who regained the lead when Gale put Webster through a weak tackle to score.

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Ben Crooks almost added another for the visitors shortly afterwards but was called back for a forward pass, before a Junior Moors break sent the supporting Gale over from 30 metres out.

Cudjoe grabbed a try back just before the break after the Tigers failed to deal with Ellis’s slightly mishit kick to the corner. But the Tigers piled on early pressure after the restart and Luke Dorm put Solomona in on the overlap to extend their lead once more.

Gale added a penalty then Webster scored his second try to all but seal the Tigers’ eighth win of the season.

Brierley grabbed his fifth Giants try since joining from Leigh and Jack Connor scored another just before the end but they proved to be pure consolation. Former Tigers scrum-half Jamie Ellis finished with three goals.

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Huddersfield: Grix, McGillvary, Cudjoe, Connor, Murphy, K. Wood, Ellis, Crabtree, Hinchcliffe, J. Johnson, J. Wardle, Ta’ai, Lawrence. Substitutes: Rapira, Mason, Roberts, Brierley.

Castleford: Dorn, Monaghan, Crooks, Webster, Solomona, McShane, Gale, Jewitt, Milner, Tickle, Moors, McMeeken, Massey. Substitutes: Millington, Cook, Hampshire, Springer.

Referee: C Campbell (RFL).