Castleford Beat Giants For Very First Super League Win
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Castleford Tigers (16) 34
Tries: Hood, McIntosh, Lawler, Weaver 2, Golding Goals: Weaver 5
Huddersfield Giants (4) 8
Tries: Gagai, Flanagan
Ashton Golding scored on his Castleford debut against previous club Huddersfield Giants to finish Tigers' first Super League win of the season.
Tries from Liam Hood, Darnell McIntosh and George Lawler had Tigers cruising inside the opening 30 minutes, but Jacob Gagai pulled one back prior to the break to make it 16-4.
Tom Weaver then grabbed two important second-half shots, either side of George Flanagan's four-pointer, to put Tigers en route to sealing a first league win under head coach Ryan Carr.
The biggest celebration of the night was scheduled for Golding, as he crossed for a memorable first try for his new club versus the side he left after five years at the end of last season.
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The early season kind and bad luck of the West Yorkshire competitors had mirrored one another before their conference at the OneBore Stadium. Both had been winless, pointless and struck by injuries.
Captain Alex Mellor became the current Tiger to be sidelined after he broke his leg in recently's defeat at Toulouse, while Giants lacked a host of hurt regulars themselves, including Liam Sutcliff, Joe Greenwood and Harry Rushton since of prolonged lay-offs.
France global Tanguy Zenon started for injury-hit Huddersfield just 2 days after joining the club, while there were Tigers debuts for Wigan loanee George Hirst and previous Giants pair Jack Ashworth and Golding.
Hood provided the hosts the ideal start, darting from dummy-half to grab his second shot of the season after Joe Stimson was brought down near to the line.
Castleford got a should have second through McIntosh, who scrambled through a tired out Giants defence that had actually been pinned back on their line after Taane Milne provided away a negligent charge for his high hit on Krystian Mapapalangi.
Milne remained in the sin-bin when Lawler crashed over under the posts for Castleford's 3rd try in the 26th minute, however after that it was Huddersfield who completed the half stronger, with Zenon rejected by a try-saving tackle from Mikaele Ravalawa before Gagai ultimately responded with a 38th-minute score.
Huddersfield continued to threaten but were wasteful in search of a way back into the game before Weaver got on the end of a brilliantly weighted kick from Daejarn Asi to edge Castleford 18 points ahead.
Flanagan provided Giants restored hope when he hit back right after, however a 2nd from Weaver put the outcome beyond doubt before Golding crashed over to trigger wild events.
'We bet this winning sensation' - reaction
Castleford Tigers head coach Ryan Carr told BBC Radio Leeds:
"That's what we play for, we play to win and bet this feeling right now.
"I'm really happy for my group and actually pleased for everybody associated with our club because a lot of work has gone into getting to this point. And there will continue to be a lot more work.
"But to be able to see them with a smile on their faces, with all the effort they have actually done because day one of pre-season, is pleasurable.
"But it is one win, we have to keep ensuring we carry out regularly every week now."
"I thought we were rubbish, as plain and simple as that.
"We simply robbed ourselves of energy with the amont of dropped balls that we had in that first half. The lads strove, however they were exhausted.
"I think they completed 100% [of their sets] in the second half, and we finished around 60-odd. If you simply provide the opposition the ball over and over once again, you are going to get the very same result.
"Eventually it simply robs you of energy and you are generally playing on fumes.
"Look, they are running around, scrambling and trying their hardest however ultimately it simply comes back to bite you. We just need to discover and need to learn fast."
Castleford Tigers: Cini, Ravalawa, Mapapalangi, McIntosh, Qaraqare, Asi, Weaver, Atoni, Hood, Westerman, Lane, Hirst, Stimson.
Replacements: Lawler, Ashworth, Hall, Golding.
Huddersfield Giants: Patolo, Woolford, Rogers, O'Donnell, Billington, Powell, Russell, Lolohea, Halsall, Milne, Gagai, Zenon, Flanagan.
Replacements: Burgess, King, Rush, English.
Referee: Matty Lynn.