Bulls rumbled at The Jungle
Castleford Tigers clinched their third successive Super League win with a gripping 28-26 comeback victory over Bradford.
Last Updated: 03/04/09 10:02am
Castleford Tigers clinched their third successive Super League win with a gripping 28-26 comeback victory over Bradford at The Jungle.
The hosts were staring down the barrel at a comprehensive home defeat with 13 minutes remaining - trailing the Bulls 26-10 and looking well beaten.
However, the Tigers roared back into life with three tries in eight minutes courtesy of Kirk Dixon, Michael Shenton and Rangi Chase to complete Castleford's their first win over Bradford since September 2003.
Chase's converted try - Cas' fifth of the day - with four minutes remaining completed the comeback and condemned Bradford to their fourth defeat of the campaign.
Tigers boss Terry Matterson included young prop Nathan Massey in his squad in place of the injured Liam Higgins, while Ryan Clayton remained sidelined after undergoing shoulder reconstruction.
Castleford response
Under-pressure Bradford boss Steve McNamara retained the same side that won in Perpignan after Matt Cook failed to recover from a virus in time.
The first try came in the 15th minute when full-back Michael Platt crossed for the Bulls.
The running of Semi Tadulala allowed Chris Nero to dummy his way through a gaping hole in the Castleford defence and find Platt on the inside. Paul Deacon made no mistake in adding the extras from out wide.
Castleford responded three minutes later with Shenton jinking his way over for the first of his two tries.
Brett Ferres fed Shenton with a long pass and the Tigers centre stepped inside and beat several defenders on his way to the line.
Bradford regained the lead when Nero sent Tadulala crashing over and their advantage was extended to 10 points in the 28th minute when Andy Lynch piled over - hitting the posts in the process - after Platt cleverly slipped him the ball.
Jubilant
Neat handling by the Tigers backs resulted in a score just before the break by Dixon, who failed with the conversion to leave the scores 16-10 in Bradford's favour at the interval.
Just 90 seconds after the restart the Bulls touched down. Strong running from loose forward Jamie Langley left the Tigers defence exposed and with just one defender to beat he sent Glenn Morrison over.
Dave Halley added a further score when Deacon orchestrated a simple move where the Bulls worked the ball from one side of the pitch to the other and then back - allowing Halley to saunter over from close range.
Castleford finally added some second-half points in the 67th minute when some fine running from Dean Widders allowed Dixon to cross.
And then two minutes later they scored again after centre Ryan McGoldrick collected a grubber kick through and unselfishly passed to Shenton who touched down.
The comeback was complete when Chase crossed to level the scores and Dixon converted to spark jubilant scenes among the Tigers' faithful.