Super League: St Helens win Shield after Catalan beat Castleford
Last Updated: 13/09/14 11:45pm
St Helens have won the Super League leaders' shield after Castleford were beaten 28-6 at Catalan Dragons on Saturday.
Nathan Brown's Saints needed just one point from their final two league games to secure the title, but were well beaten by Warrington last week and lost a thriller to Huddersfield on Friday.
Consequently Castleford - 200-1 outsiders at the start of the season - kicked off away to Catalan Dragons knowing the shield would be going back to Yorkshire if they won by any margin.
They fluffed their lines, though, and were well beaten, ending the season in fourth.
It is the first silverware St Helens have won since their move to Langtree Park and they will get an immediate chance to show it off to the Tigers, with the pair to meet in the first round of the play-offs next weekend.
Heading to Perpignan knowing a win would earn them top spot for the first time in their 88-year history, Daryl Powell's Tigers failed to bare their claws in a tame display.
The fine margins involved at the top of the table this season mean that Cas now end the season in fourth and must to go St Helens - the club who instead take the shield - in the first round of the play-offs.
Catalan will go to Leeds for a tough-looking elimination clash, but will go in confidence after this.
In a tough opening to the game, both sides were willing to chance their arm and pass the ball out wide.
Catalan were the beneficiaries of the adventurous play, with Morgan Escare scoring the try of the game as the ball passed through seven sets of hands - including his own twice - on its way to the full-back touching down in the 33rd minute. Thomas Bosc added the goal to take the scores to 6-0.
Brilliance
Escare then produced a piece of individual brilliance with eight seconds remaining of the first half, latching onto Daryl Millard's offload, the Catalan number one dived full-length to twist his body and touch down in the corner.
After the break, the tries continued to flow, Ben Pomeroy intercepting and racing clear before the ball was sent to the left to Sam Williams who drew the cover defence and sent in Zeb Taia at the corner. Bosc added the conversion to take the scores to 16-0.
Castleford hit straight back, Bosc knocking on 30 metres from his own line to gift field position to the hosts. The Tigers ran a play down the right-hand side, Luke Dorn taking the ball to the line before offloading to Oliver Holmes whose quick hands to Kirk Dixon allowed the winger to score in the corner. Marc Sneyd added the conversion from the touchline to take the scores to 16-6.
They knew they had a chance to go on and have a real crack at top spot at that stage, but Catalan clinched the win on the hour-mark, Ian Henderson managing to squeeze his way over after Dorn had again gifted them field position 20m from the Castleford line. Bosc added the conversion to take the scores to 22-6.
Henderson was proving a menace to the Castleford defence, and five minutes later he picked up and pushed away four would-be defenders before feeding Elliott Whitehead who himself pushed away two defenders on his way to scoring in
the right corner. Bosc again added the conversion as the Catalans extended their lead to 28-6.
That was that for Castleford's challenge - although the fact they started the season as 200-1 rank outsiders to finish top means they could still leave the field with their pride intact.
