Castleford Tigers blushes spared as they come from behind to beat Batley

It was widely believed that Castleford Tigers could be on the wrong end of the biggest Challenge Cup upset since the Bradford Bulls stunned Leeds Rhinos in 2019.

The story was there to be written with former Batley boss Craig Lingard now in charge at the Castleford Tigers in 2024 and still waiting for his first win as Castleford boss.

They were also away at a wet Mount Pleasant which can be a really tough ground for away teams to win at and there looked like being a big problem for the Tigers when they found themselves 8-0 down.

The Bulldogs took the lead thanks to a try from Dane Manning and two goals from young David Gibbons.

Crucially Josh Simm responded with a try for the Tigers racing in at the corner. The tigers did take a 10-8 lead thanks to a Rowan Milnes try but Batley responded in kind with a try from Moore scooting over to make it 14-10.

However, as the half ended Innes Senior squeezed in at the corner to make it 14-all.

Crucially Castleford scored first in the second half with Paul McShane scotting over to make it 20-14 but the Tigers gave the Bulldogs a massive chance of turning things around when Alex Mellor was sin binned.

After the Bulldogs came close Jacob Miller got the decisive try before a second try for Innes Senior wrapped up a hard fought 28-14 win which looked like it wouldn’t come earlier in the game.

Cas now progress to the last eight of the Challenge Cup.

Castleford Tigers hoping for result against Leeds Rhinos

Next week Castleford Tigers will get the Rivals Round fixtures over the Easter period underway when they host Leeds Rhinos at the Jungle.

After picking up his first win in all competitions by defeating his former club, can Lingard defeat Castleford Tigers’ biggest rivals next week to notch a first Super League win as Castleford Tigers Head Coach.

Last year Andy Last notched his first Super League win as Cas coach against the Rhinos at the Jungle. Rohan Smith has not yet won at the Jungle so could a repeat of last year’s result be on the cards?

Leeds will come into the game after defeat to St Helens in the cup.