Magic roar from Tigers
Castleford scored two tries in the last four minutes to wrap up a 34-18 victory over Catalans Dragons at Murrayfield.
Last Updated: 02/05/10 4:18pm
Castleford scored two tries in the last four minutes to wrap up a 34-18 victory over Catalans Dragons at Murrayfield.
The Tigers had not tasted ' Magic Weekend' success before and just about deserved this win, although the final scoreline flattered them somewhat.
Nevertheless, it was another miserable afternoon for the struggling Dragons, who are marooned at the bottom of the engage Super League table after a fifth straight reverse.
The Catalans fought back valiantly from 22-10 down and trailed by only four points until the Tigers piled on the agony with those two late scores.
The Dragons would have got even closer had they had a reliable goalkicker, but makeshift marksman Gregory Mounis, who took on the responsibility to enable Thomas Bosc to protect an ankle injury, missed with three of his four attempts at goal.
The Tigers started and finished the better side, with stand-off Rangi Chase constantly teasing the Dragons defence with his neat footwork and clever ball distribution.
Prop Mitchell Sargent lost control of the ball as he attempted to ground it on the line, but the Tigers made the most of their early dominance with two tries in the first eight minutes.
Left winger Michael Wainwright got the first after Chase's offload created an opening and the Kiwi also created the second for full-back Ryan McGoldrick with a pinpoint kick to the line.
The Catalans were no match for their opponents in the opening stages, but gradually worked their into the game and drew level with two tries in 10 minutes.
A handling error by Castleford's young centre Jordan Thompson gifted the Frenchmen a perfect attacking position and they made the most of it, full-back Dimitri Pelo sending winger Frederic Vaccari over straight from the scrum.
Striding through
Bosc then got former Castleford second rower Olivier Elima striding through a yawning gap in the Tigers defence for a second try and Mounis added the goal.
The Dragons lost replacement prop Sebastien Martins with a shoulder injury and were also out of luck seven minutes before half-time when Castleford regained the lead.
Winger Kirk Dixon's kick took a wicked bounce infield to elude the covering Steven Bell and enable Brent Sherwin to finish off a move he had started with the initial kick to the wing.
Joe Westerman's second goal gave his side a 16-10 interval lead and there appeared no way back for the Dragons when centre James Evans pounced for a fourth try six minutes into the second half, after Pelo failed to deal with Sherwin's grubber kick.
Mounis forced his way over on 50 minutes to keep the Catalans in contention and there were only four points in it when Jean-Philippe Baile took three defenders over the line as he claimed a fourth try for his side.
Late flurry
But Mounis was unable to add to his solitary goal success and, after Westerman had put two scores between the sides with a penalty, the Tigers wrapped up their maiden Magic success with a late flurry.
McGoldrick pounced on Sherwin's grubber kick for his second try and Sherwin also doubled his tally by intercepting Casey McGuire's desperate pass just 10 metres from his own line, as Westerman took his goal tally to five from seven attempts.