St Helens 4-0 Castleford Tigers: Regan Grace wins it with sole try
By Sky Sports Rugby League
Last Updated: 02/09/19 11:17am
A first-half try from Regan Grace proved enough for St Helens to secure a battling 4-0 win over Castleford Tigers in Friday’s Super League game.
Welsh winger Grace made the breakthrough with his unconverted score in a hard-fought first half at Totally Wicked Stadium, which was enough to see Saints go in at the break holding a slender lead.
The hosts then saw further possible scores from Jack Welsby and Jonny Lomax chalked off by referee James Child for obstruction after the break, while Castleford were left to rue a plethora of wasted opportunities.
It was a match which equalled Super League's lowest-scoring game and having beaten Celtic Crusaders 4-0 in 2009, Saints repeated the trick here on the night they were presented with the League Leaders' Shield.
For Castleford, the defeat meant they stayed two points outside the top five with two games of the regular season remaining and extended the run which had not seen them win a league game away to St Helens since October 1990.
In their first game since being beaten by Warrington Wolves in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley six days ago, Saints performed magnificently in defence, extending their lead at the top of the table to a staggering 18 points.
After the game, the club were presented with the League Leaders' Shield for the eighth time - the most in the competition's history.
But the Shield will mean little if outgoing coach Justin Holbrook can not sign off with a first Grand Final win in five years.
It appeared Castleford were in good touch as they made a bright start to the game, trying hard to keep the ball alive and playing an expansive style.
For the first half-hour, they enjoyed the better of things but were let down by handling errors and Saints, who had been uncharacteristically clunky with ball in hand, grew in confidence having weathered the initial storm.
A moment of magic from hooker James Roby created the game's only try with eight minutes of the first half remaining.
He managed to get clear of an attempted tackle, passing left to Mark Percival who in turn found Grace, the winger at
full stretch to score in the corner. Danny Richardson was unable to convert from the touchline.
Errors littered the start of the second half too, though it was Castleford who were on top, forcing Saints to concede two drop-outs and looking the most likely to score next with half-back Jake Trueman a growing influence.
Still, the Saints defence stood firm though the exertions of the previous week's Cup final were clearly being felt as the game entered the final quarter.
A controversial forward pass call against a rampant Castleford on the halfway line with nine minutes remaining seemed to sum up their night.
Match reaction
