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Dewsbury Rams 10 - 38 Castleford Tigers

Match report by Chris 'Ossy' Osbaldeston

First things first. Best wishes to Sid Domic and his family. It was a bold move to bring him to The Ram’s stadium, a move that deserved a better ending. The last I heard was that he’d broken a couple of ribs and will play no further part in our season.

And to get all the bad news out of the way up front, Mr. Dawber was our referee yesterday – let’s just say that, on his first half performance, we’ve had better. On the other hand we’ve also had worse, and he didn’t affect the final result a great deal. Cas were every bit as good as their league position suggested they would be.

The game opened up with a fleeting memory of Francis Maloney’s early try against Widnes. A sparkling run down the wing from Bryn Powell promised much, only this time his pass inside went to ground, and a couple of minutes later it was Cas that opened the scoring. Two quick penalties gave them the field position and Michael Shenton was over on the left.
For a while it was all one way, prop Liam Higgins was held up under the posts, and on 12 minutes Shenton was over again, 8 – 0 to the Tigers. Play was all going one way at this point, and that wasn’t down to any lack of effort from Dewsbury.

It was 16 minutes before The Rams got their first penalty, for lying on, a tactic Cas employed successfully all afternoon. They’re a professional side, and it was an effective policy, three men in on almost every tackle, slowly peeling away and giving their defence time to get organised. Hardly surprising the Rams found them difficult to penetrate.

20 minutes in, Dean Lawford’s kick on the fifth tackle was charged down, and collected by Cas hooker Andrew Henderson who ran in under the posts. This time Kirk Dixon kicked the conversion.

Slowly The Rams hauled themselves back into the game, though their try on 28 minutes was disallowed. From my position in the South Stand I couldn’t see why, so I can’t give you a reason. A few minutes later though we were back at the other end, and a good move down the right hand side saw scrum half Anthony Thackeray go over to the right of the posts. A second conversion from Dixon took them out to 20 – 0.

A bed decision from the referee led directly to The Tigers next try. Kevin Crouthers was penalised for continuing forward when no Cas player had a hand on him. Two minutes earlier, in almost the same spot, he’d waved play on when Cas had a similar incident.

The resultant penalty gave them both possession and position, and resulted in stand off Peter Lupton going over for their 5th try, and Dixon’s conversion stretched their lead to 26 – 0 at half time.

The call for Sid Domic’s wife, followed a few minutes later by the sight of an ambulance pulling away from the Main Stand were the first indications many of us in The South Stand had that Sid was hurt. At least The Rams didn’t fold. The second half was a much more even affair, though early Rams pressure led nowhere.

It was 15 minutes before loose forward Ryan Clayton went over on the left, Dixon converting. 4 minutes later Michael Shenton got his hat trick, spinning over on the left. Bryn Powell was over at the other end, only for the try to be disallowed after consultation with the touch judge on the far side of the field. A few minutes later Austin Buchanan raced clear only to be pulled back for a forward pass.

The Rams finally got their reward for a gutsy second half performance, prop Andy Hobson driving over under the posts, Liam Finn adding the conversion. Even against full timers, Dewsbury kept working to the end, and Austin Buchanan crossed wide out to complete the scoring.

Man of the match for The Rams was the quiet man, Martin Robinson. His never say die attitude just about summed up The Rams performance today.

All in all, it was an enjoyable game. Cas were good, as were their fans. The play offs will be interesting, and if there’s any justice in this world, the final drama will be played out between Cas and Widnes. The League results will count for nothing on that day, maybe I should try to get a couple of tickets; it’s likely to be quite a game.

Halifax this week; doubtless smarting from their 26 – 20 home defeat at the hands of Whitehaven. Can’t see that being an easy game, but we have enough ability and heart to take them all the way. See you there.

Attendance 3010.
Ref M. Dawber

Rams: Chris Hall, Bryn Powell, Sid Domic, Danny Maun, Austin Buchanan, Patrick Walker, Dean Lawford, Andy Hobson, Liam Finn, Dominic Maloney, Martin Robinson, Alex Bretherton, Josh Weeden. Subs: Rob Kelly, Kevin Crouthers, Joe Helme, Liam Crawley.

Tries: Hobson, Buchanan
Goals: Finn (1)