What happens in Cas Vegas doesn’t stay in Cas Vegas

Aireborough travelled to Castleford on Saturday looking to avenge a 6-16 defeat at Nunroyd Park earlier in the season which ruined the Sponsors Day. Aireborough were also looking to finally secure a win at Castleford following a number of thumping’s in recent years – with Aireborough traditionally being bullied by a larger Castleford side and withdrawing into their collective shells.

The starting 15 was virtually unchanged from the side that beat Old Otliensians 29-13 last week, with Jonny Mackey returning to the starting side at number 6 and Jonny Hiles dropping to a bench which included Player Coach Matt Trevithick, Crusader’s Captain James Underwood and Aireborough’s own Ageless Wonder, Tim Baxter, who took the place of Captain Rich Lister who failed another pre-match fitness test.

Having been psyched up in the changing room listening to Johnno’s slightly effeminate dance music, which granted I may have been bopping along to, the lads took to the field determined to stand up to Castleford, show they had a pair of balls and a back bone; and secure a much needed big W.

Aireborough received the kick off and second row Richard Holmes was immediately swallowed up in the advancing wall of blue and white which resulted in a scrum to Castleford following a maul. This gave the Cas runners a chance to test Aireborough’s defence – with the big Cas number 12 taking crash ball but being stopped by the midfield duo of Liam Cree and Cal Lister. Further Castleford efforts to break the Aireborough line were stopped in their tracks and the two teams began slugging it out in midfield with both sets of forwards looking to dominate the breakdown area.

Aireborough drew first blood with a Nick Holdsworth penalty after about 10 minutes but Castleford were the first side to score a try following a mazy run by their fly-half which drew the covering Holdsworth before kicking the ball forward into the in goal area – with a Castleford player winning the footrace to dive on the ball. The conversion fortunately flew wide of the posts to leave Cas with a 5-3 lead after 20 minutes of hard hitting rugby.

Aireborough’s response was swift – Castleford ill-discipline gave Holdsworth the chance to kick into the corner and the Aire forwards set up a rolling maul which, after an initially Cas shove, gained momentum and resulted in Jonny Mackey, in true Dave ‘Tank’ Greenwood style, crashed over for his second try in two matches. Unlike his other sponsor, Retro Spectacle (https://www.retrospectacle.co.uk/), it wasn’t cool, it certainly wasn’t stylish; but it was old-school – give them a follow on Twitter (@retro_spectacle) and see what they’re about! Nick Holdsworth definitely wasn’t cool or stylish with his conversion attempt as the score stayed at 8-5 to Aireborough as the ball sailed to the right of the uprights.

Aireborough began to dominate in the forwards, with excellent guard defence, which forced Castleford to run it in the backs. On the whole, the Aireborough backs were excellent – the rush defence shutting down the Cas runners before they could build up speed. With Castleford unable to run over Aire, they tried their hand at going around Aireborough. Again, Aireborough did not give an inch – although it came at a price with Thomas Copsey picking up his third cheese slice in five games following a high tackle on his opposing wing.

The numerical advantage for Cas did not last long and they were soon down to 14 men themselves after their blindside flanker was deemed to have strayed offside at a ruck and tested the patience of the referee once too often following a number of similar offences. Nick Holdsworth slotted the resulting penalty to increase Aireborough’s lead to 11-5 as the game hit the 30 minute mark.

With a bit more room on the pitch, Ollie Catherall jinked through a hole in the Cas defence; but with just the full-back to beat and no immediate support close by; opted to kick into the corner for Rob Johnson to chase… Well, that was the theory – I think the kick may have gone backwards as the ball sliced of Catherall’s boot and beat all chasers to the touchline. But the holes were starting to appear and Nick Jackson was soon darting through another before passing to Cree who, after a fine pick up off his shoe laces, set Christopher Chapman, sponsored by 2 To 3D Design – Engineering Design Services (http://www.2to3ddesign.co.uk/), free to score his fourth try of the season in the corner. Holdsworth was wayward with the attempted conversion and the referee blew his whistle to bring the first half to an end.

HT: Castleford 5 v Aireborough 16

Leading at half time, Aireborough were in very unfamiliar territory and knew that the defence, communication and effort needed to be maintained if the expected second half onslaught from a wounded Castleford team was to be repelled.

The kick chase from Aireborough’s kick off was strong and it set the tone for the second half. Aireborough continued to front up to the strong Cas ball runners and showed why they have the meanest defence in Yorkshire Three. The trio of Stuart Wilson, Ollie Catherall and Nick Holdsworth marshalled the defence excellently and the right foot / left foot kicking combo of Catherall and Holdsworth gave Aireborough territorial advantage as they kept Tidy/Tiny (whatever his name was – a.k.a the little ginger Cas full back) running from one side of the pitch to the other to field the tactically placed kicks.

The Aire forwards continued to dominate and disrupt, nicking the occasional scrum and the more than occasional lineout and plenty of breakdown ball – with Nick Jackson and Christopher Chapman particularly impressing with solid turnovers.

Nick Holdsworth hit a post from a penalty attempt as the game entered the final 20 minutes and this gave Castleford some impetus as they, as expected, began exerting some pressure in the Aireborough half. Stuart Wilson was soon having a 10 minute rest after being pinged by the referee for an attempted trip and Castleford spent a good 10 minutes in the Aireborough half but were unable to find a way through a resolute Aire defence with Simon Davies, Luke Exley and the midfield duo of Cree and Lister all putting in big hits.

Aireborough rang the changes and Matt Trevithick entered the fray – immediately holding up his opposite man to win Aireborough a scrum. One minute later, and probably to his relief as he was beginning to huff and puff, he was taking a break as the referee sin-binned a third Aireborough player – Matt was deemed to have tackled the ball carrier with a raised arm (not entirely sure what that means). Handbags broke out as Castleford’s frustrations came to the surface and Castleford were permanently reduced to 14 men after a couple of haymakers were thrown at Matt and the perp was sent off – despite missing the rather sizeable target of Matt’s noggin. Matt trooped off for his 10 minute rest having clocked up the rather remarkable feat of having spent more time this season in the sin-bin than on the field.

Aireborough ended the game in the ascendancy and were rewarded with a late Nick Holdsworth penalty to increase the lead to 19-5. Aireborough had a number of 5m lineouts toward the end of the game but were unable to replicate the scoring move of the first half as Cas doggedly defended and disrupted the Aire rolling maul.

FT Castleford 5 v Aireborough 19

Given the previous results against Cas, this result has hopefully gotten the monkey off their back as Aireborough showed that they can stand up to bigger teams and not be bullied off the park. Another big game awaits next week away to Goole who Aireborough, just like Cas, have rarely beaten and usually get a good hiding – another team performance like this one may well result in another ‘W’ in the result column.

Man of the Match
Castleford kindly chose Christopher Chapman as Aireborough’s man of the match in the bar after the game for his try, lineout wins and breakdown play. Chris then went on to claim a credible third in the pint downing contest to confirm that this was a good choice by Cas. Stuart Wilson, named Dick of the Day by Castleford, redeemed himself (slightly) winning the drinking contest.

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