REPORT: St Helens v Castleford Tigers

Castleford Tigers were defeated 40-10 against St Helens in Matty Lees’ Testimonial on Saturday afternoon.

It saw debuts for a huge number of signings for 2026, and also saw Daniel Sarbah rewarded for his good performance against a young Leeds Rhinos last week at the OneBore Stadium by being named in the squad.

Mikaele Ravalawa with a big hit set the tone early on, and the Tigers soon had a period of pressure in the early minutes, but couldn’t make the most of good field position.

However, Saints took the first try, pouncing on a dropped ball before Nene Macdonald got on the end of a stabbed kick to put them ahead.

The home side kept that pressure up, and after a six-again, it was Harry Robertson scoring, running onto a great pass to extend the lead.

It wasn’t long before they had another, either, as a failed short goal line drop-out attempt from the Tigers gave Saints field position once again, and a good run and flicked pass from fullback Jack Welsby gave Deon Cross an easy try - but this time, Hastings couldn’t add the extras.

After this, the Tigers did start to shift momentum, with an offside call against Saints certainly helping, but the ball was given away to let the home side catch a break.

However, it was a good end to the first half, as a short kick from Tom Weaver was collected expertly by Darnell McIntosh, who handed it off to Mikaele Ravalawa for him to score his first try in a Cas shirt.

Weaver added the extras from out wide right on the hooter, and the teams ran in at 16-6 at the end of the first 40.

It was Saints that came out strongest in the early knockings of the second period, and poor discipline from the away side, along with good kicking from Hastings and Welsby, gave them back-to-back-to-back-to-back sets - before Tristan Sailor eventually created an opening for Shane Wright to touch down, giving them the first points after the break.

Both sides then came close to scoring, but it was Saints that made a break down the right, with Shane Wright scoring his second try of the afternoon to stretch the lead, after a successful conversion, to 26 points.

The Tigers would grab a second, however, as good work from Brad Singleton allowed George Lawler an opportunity to get over the line, before being held up. Cas reset well, and Ravalawa was in again on the right-hand side!

However, the momentum didn’t stay for long, and good hands on the Saints left edge allowed Lewis Murphy an acrobatic try, which was expertly converted by Tristan Sailor, who then scored himself minutes later to stretch the lead even further.

Full-time: St Helens 40-10 Castleford Tigers