Skipton's hopes blown away in first half as Castleford build match-winning lead

A cool East wind greeted the teams at Sandylands on Saturday for the Yorkshire Division Three encounter.

The visitors had the advantage of the elements at the start and soon built up a head of steam.

Young full back Redver Stork-Flatley had to make two massive try-saving tackles within the first 15 minutes of the game.

The visitors did go over for a converted try but Skipton responded with a fine score from outside centre James Ackers. He reached out to score while being tackled.

Luke Stockton, scorer of a try in each of the two previous games, was also unlucky to be held up on the line as Skipton trailed 7-5.

The loyal home supporters were hoping for a close contest but such thoughts were scuppered as Castle-ford ran in five further tries before half-time with only a solitary penalty being scored in reply.

The 36-8 scoreline made for a rather subdued atmosphere amongst the home crowd in the stand at the interval.

The second half was a different story as the Castleford Express began to run out of steam.

Tremendous forward work by Harry McEneaney put Chris Wright over for a well-deserved forwards try which was duly converted to bring the score to 36-15.

That man Ackers then made a try-saving tackle to keep Castleford at bay before Skipton brought on their Rugby Development Officer Ashley Greaves at second row and old head Darren Howson at stand-off.

A smart decision to take a scrum rather than a penalty gave Matty Ray the chance to set off on a good run down the wing before being halted.

Skipton were increasing the pressure and when hooker Charlie Brown took a scrum against the head, the ball was sent wide to Ackers who saw the opportunity to put Howson over for a try which he also converted.

The last ten minutes saw Skipton exert contact pressure without being able to add to their score. The visitors had established too great a lead during the first half but it is significant that they did not score a single point in the second half and the young Skipton side have much to take away from this game.