Betfred Super League Round 9 Match Report: Castleford Tigers 40- London Broncos 0

The game started at 8pm prompt with Tex Hoy kicking from left to right to Oli Leyland who offloaded the ball to Marcus Stock to get the game underway. However, as London use up their 5 attempts and kick back to Castleford, Tex Hoy makes a good break on his first carry on the ball for his new team and, after making some good yards, offloads to Jacob Miller who runs the ball in unopposed, which is then converted by Rowan Milnes.

To credit the Broncos in the first few minutes up until the 19^th minute, it did certainly seem as though they were going to get some points on the board and bounce back from the early shake up. There was some positive back and forth play and it would be fair to say that the meters we were making in our sets were stronger than they have been in previous weeks. However, when it came to the critical moment to strike points onto the board, it was not to be.

It wasn’t that London didn’t have any chances, it just felt slightly as though these chances were wasted from grubbers that were recovered relatively easily by Castleford and passing that just simply didn’t seem to put the Broncos in any kind of threatening positions out wide.

One of the biggest examples of this was in the 18^th minute where Alex Walker’s grubber got knocked on by a Castleford player, giving London a very promising scrum 5m outside of the Tigers try line. However, the pass from Davis to Meadows off the scrum wasn’t clean enough for Meadows to make anything of it, resulting in a total slowing of the play and an opportunity for the Tigers to get themselves back in their defensive shape, which they ended up doing, winning the ball back from it and eventually were given a penalty after a high Rhys Kennedy tackle.

If there was any moment in this game which marked the abrupt turnaround of momentum and fortune, it came in the 23^rd minute when London put together a fantastic defensive display and subsequently won a penalty after Jacob Jones regained the ball for the Broncos. However, upon looking to kick the ball into touch to gain stronger field position, Meadows missed touch and from this point, it was all Castleford until half time.

A minute after this mistake, Milnes scored and converted his try, making the score 12-0. Then, in the 26^th minute, after the Broncos give away a penalty for not releasing the Tigers player who had been tackled, Paul McShane takes advantage of the field position to score under the posts, followed up by a try by Alex Mellor in the 29^th minute- both converted by Milnes.

Once more, in the 35^th minute, Miloudi loses the ball on the floor and gives a scrum to the Tigers in the Broncos half which is taken advantage of by Innes Senior who scored his first try of the game.

The half ended with Oli Leyland kicking for a 40-20 which didn’t make touch and was collected by Tex Hoy who tucks the ball into contact and a couple of phases later, the buzzer went for half time.

Halftime- Castleford 30- London 0

As the second half began, London fans would have been hoping that the team would be coming out with a new and refreshed attitude, and that hopefully this could lead to some good points on the board to leave Castleford with and take into the following weeks. However, despite an improved effort in the second 40, it was not to be regarding points on the board for the Broncos.

The second half began just the way which the Broncos would not have wanted after a chip over the top by Jacob Miller saw Innes Senior collect and score his second of the night in the 43^rd minute. Furthermore, in the 48^th minute, just when London were beginning to get some form of attacking flow going, Dean Parata makes a very rare mistake and drops the ball with no pressure on him, gifting a scrum to Castleford. From this scrum, Louis Senior takes advantage to score his try of the night. This conversion was missed (Milnes’ first miss of the night) making the score Castleford 40- London 0.

From this point, there were no more points scored on the board but there was some good rugby for the spectators to enjoy. London gained two quick penalties in the 52^nd & 53^rd minute which led them into good field position but unfortunately, they could not convert these opportunities into any points after Tison’s grubber was collected by the Tigers on their try-line and they managed to play out of this field position well.

In the 57^th minute, Leyland had some good, improvised play when he put through and collected his own grubber and after putting in another kick, Hoy collected but was brought down 5m outside of his own try line- a good, improvised move by Oli Leyland to put pressure on the opponent but once more, Castleford managed to play out of this pressure well.

An incorrect play of the ball and some descent towards the officials by Miloudi gave Castleford a penalty about 5m outside of the Broncos line but fortunately for London, the Tigers could not convert.

Time was off in the 75^th minute after Dean Parata went down for a head knock and eventually off the field for a HIA inspection.

One of the brightest moments for the Broncos came in the 76^th minute where Jarred Bassett made an excellent break and offloaded to Miloudi who carried the ball down deep into Castleford’s half. After immediately winning a penalty for a Tigers offside, the Broncos took it quick and Leyland produced a lovely pass out wide to Bassett who, sadly, cannot ground the ball over the line before his foot went into touch resulting in a no try and from this decision, Castleford took back the ball and the game was won with the ball in their possession.

Full time- Castleford Tigers 40- London Broncos 0